Always The Same
by Atrophy-Conception
Summary: Lili’s 12th birthday is approaching and her friends decide to throw her a decent party and pull together to give her the gift she desires. But what exactly DOES Lili want? Finished
1. Another Unfortunate Year

Chapter One:

The Beginning Of Another Unfortunate Year:

**Lili Zanotto**

Lili Zanotto was sitting on her bed, looking back and forth from the clock and the calendar as though doing so would make one of them suddenly decide to start running backwards. It was August 30th and the time was 6:45 A.M. In fifteen minutes Lili would have to leave the comfort of her room and descend the staircase to the front door, where one of her fathers hired cars would take her away to boarding school.

Lili tossed an aggravated look towards her suitcase, which was sitting in the corner of her room. She hadn't even bothered to unpack it after camp. She had only been back for a week…what was the point?

More minutes passed by on the clock…the calendar kept showing that it was August. Lili sighed and stood from her bed, deciding that she might as well wait outside. If the car came early, she would just have to live with it. She had really hoped that she would get the chance to see her father before she went to school…but in fifteen minutes…she didn't think that was going to happen.

Lili left her room, lifting her suitcase via TK and throwing it across the hall on her way towards the stairs. The whole time she was thinking about how much she would have liked to stay home, perhaps change schools to somewhere she fit in better. But she knew that would never happen. Her dad had a very important job and he was almost always busy. Her mother had left both of them years before and was currently residing in a remote location that neither of them knew about, with bolts on her doors and a severe case of paranoia. She hadn't taken the news of Lili and her father being paranormally gifted too well.

Because she was still too young to stay at home by herself, Lili was sent to a fancy prep school over the school year, which lasted until about two weeks into July and then, after being home for about a day, she was then sent to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp until August 20th. The only time she was ever home was on particular weekends, holidays and one week and one day in the summer.

Lili reached the entryway and opened the door bitterly. The sunlight hit her, making her shield her eyes. She picked up her suitcase, which she had skillfully managed to land right in front of the door. And walked out into the early morning light. The car wasn't there yet, a thing which Lili found as somewhat of a relief.

It was always like this for her on the first day of school. All normal kids loathed education, but Lili found it particularly unpleasant, not because of the education itself, but because of the school she went to. Demure Academy was mostly for rich kids with important parents who lived particularly wealthy lives. Because of this, it was full of the sort of people who always looked down on others and only surrounded themselves with people LIKE them and people who were good enough at sucking up and trying to be like them. Lili wasn't this sort of person.

Because of her unusual gift she was an outcast anyway, but this was only maximized by having to attend a school where even ordinary children were considered unworthy of companionship, let alone kids who just absolutely radiated incongruity.

Years before Lili had been refused by her father to use any of her psychic powers at school. When she had been younger a lot of odd things tended to happen to people who didn't treat her kindly. Her father had finally been called when a child who had been known to taunt her on several occasions had suddenly and inexplicably lost his mind. He had been taken to the hospital because he was dancing around and claiming to be a ballerina. No one knew how Lili had managed it, but they did know that he had been fine before he had run into her that day, and completely out of it after. She had gotten into a lot of trouble at home after that and had been made to tell her father everything she had done to other tormenters in past instances. She was only seven at the time.

Now Lili was older, and most people had forgotten about occurrences such as those. But once one was labeled as a freak, no one saw anything else.

She did have a few friends, other social outcasts and youths whose parents had sent them to the prodigious school for whatever reason. But even with them, Lili felt like she was alone, because even though they knew what it was like to be an outcast…they didn't know what it was like to be an outsider to her scale. She wasn't just an outsider in a fancy prep school, she was an outsider to people in general. The only ones who knew what she was going through were the people like her. And although there were more of them then one might think…there just simply weren't enough.

Lili heard the sound of rubber screeching and looked up as one of her fathers cars stopped in front of the house. She sighed and headed towards it moodily. A man stepped out of the driver side door and helped her get her bag into the back, smiling warmly at her as he did. By the time she had gotten into the backseat his smile had faded when it became apparent that the young girl would not be returning it any time soon.

He closed the door, started the car, and once the engine revved to life, they took off towards the unwelcome walls of Demure.

Angus Gast 

Most of the people walking by ignored the boy standing in the shade of a large oak in front of the towering white building, which had the words Demure Academy printed above the large doors. People like him, in said atmosphere were generally considered to be somewhat invisible. When those around him weren't ignoring him, they were in turn, pointing at him and trying to hide their laughter behind cupped hands. He hardly noticed any of them.

Angus Gast was a very awkward individual. One only needed to look at him to see this. He was the sort of boy who had height to his advantage, but absolutely no mass to go along with it, which resulted in a very gangly look, and therefore doing him more harm then good. He was pale, he had unkempt hair and set upon the bridge of his nose was a pair of large bottle cap glasses. If one were to look up the statement nerd in the dictionary…. one might find a picture of Angus Gast.

His father, Jakob Gast was the head of a major corporation and had sent his son to demure in hopes that it would somehow rid the boy of his oddities and lack of social graces. Instead, as was to be expected, Angus had been branded as an immediate loser and had perhaps developed even greater social problems because of it.

Like many boys and girls in his situation, he had found a group of friends that he fit into well enough. They weren't all like him. Demure was considerably short in stock when it came to losers and outcasts. So whenever a child who didn't fit into the schools strict mold was wrongfully enrolled, instead of finding a group of computer geeks, or theatre freaks, or Goths…they'd join a group labeled by their peers as the "outsiders." It didn't mean that any of the children who had to hang out in this group were alike, or into the same kinds of stuff…but in a school like Demure, anyone who was different tended to stick together, whether they were alike or not.

Currently, Angus was waiting for one of his friends. Lili Zanotto was someone who he had known for a long time. They had gone to school together since they were very young. Because of this, he considered her to be one of his best friends (Not that he had many to choose from.) He wasn't sure how she felt about him…Lili was a hard girl to read.

He was looking forward to seeing her again this year and his stomach was already full of knots at the thought of it. Although she hung out with them, Lili wasn't the sort of person who fit into their crowd…or any crowd for that matter. For starters, even though no guy who valued their social life would admit it, Lili was the sort of girl who could easily send a fresh set of butterflies loose in the gut of any boy who had finally gotten over their cooties phase. Angus knew this by experience. He had had a rather severe crush on her now for the past few years.

Just as he was pondering these feelings for the hundredth time, a thing he often did, along with imagining what it would be like if he ever tried to tell her how he felt, he was brought out of his daze when a large vehicle pulled up in front of the school.

Angus, who recognized it at once, felt his knees weaken.

The back door of the car opened and Lili emerged before the driver was able to open the door for her. Angus noted the look of brief confusion on the man's face with some amusement before he changed directions and settled for getting her bags. This was immediately put out of the boys mind however, when Lili noticed him and gave him an acknowledgeable nod. No smile, just a nod. He frowned.

After she had taken the bag from the driver, insisting to carry it herself, she made her way towards the Angus, who was trying to put himself in a somewhat normal façade and hide his disappointment in the fact that Lili was obviously not as happy to see him as he was her.

"Hey Lili." He said as she stopped in front of him and lowered her bag onto the ground. She gave him another distracted nod and began digging through the contents of her suitcase.

"Uhh…so how was your summer?" He questioned, now feeling a little foolish and wishing, despite himself that he hadn't waited in front of the school for her for so long.

"Same as always." Lili said bitterly. There was a hint of aggravation in her voice, as though she had hoped that it would have been different. Although Angus wasn't sure how different it could have turned out, apparently her father had been sending her to the same summer camp since she was six years old.

The boy nodded and searched his mind desperately for something to talk about with her.

"Any plans for your birthday?" He questioned suddenly. This time Lili did look up, but she was frowning. Lili's birthday was always somewhere within the first two weeks of school. This year she would be turning twelve.

"My dad said something about coming home that weekend." Lili said. There was a far off look in her eyes and a hint of sadness. Angus always got uncomfortable when Lili showed any emotion outside of her usual Cynicism and almost always-pessimistic demeanor.

"Well…that's nice, isn't it?" Angus asked uncomfortably.

"Nah…he wont be there. I'll wind up having to spend it here again." Lili said as she removed the thing she had apparently been looking for from her suitcase and straightened. Angus tossed it a curious look and raised his brow.

"Since when have you been into friendship bracelets?" He asked with an odd look on his face. She answered as she tied the tiny bracelet around her wrist.

"I found it at the beginning of the summer. Someone gave it to me last year…I thought I had lost it." Once again there was a hint of sadness in her face. After the bracelet was tucked into her glove, Lili picked up her bags and motioned for Angus to follow.

"Come on. If we don't hurry all of the good seats will be taken for orientation." Angus nodded and followed her into the building.

Ok…this is totally experimental. I doubt I'll get any reviews for it, but if you do happen to read this, please tell me what you think. If no one shows any interest in this story it'll probably be a while before I update on it. It'll eventually have more of a point to it…and I am, of course, going to introduce Raz into the plot.

So please, just tell me what you think so far. Or better yet, go write a Psychonauts story of your own and fill this section up. This game is WAY too good to not have fanfiction in it…

Thanx J


	2. Orientation

Chapter Two:

Orientation

**Tessa Burdine**

Someone was tapping her on the shoulder. She frowned. She had been aware of them for the last five minutes. It was very hard to ignore someone who was screaming in ones ear…and even when wearing her headphones, which were currently blasting gothic rock music that SHOULD have been able to drown anything out…she could still hear the shrill shrieks that were being directed towards her in such an annoying manner.

Finally, she lowered the headphones and gave the short plump girl with the golden curls a very dangerous look.

"Finally! You know, my mom says that if you listen to music too loudly you can blow your ear drums out." The girl said while putting a chubby hand on her bulbous waist.

Tessa regarded her wearily.

"You mom's an idiot." She said quietly in a monotonous tone. Zoe's face froze before turning a rather ugly rouge color.

"I see you haven't changed over the summer."

She said testily. Any ordinary person would have left in a huff at this point, perhaps deciding that it would be in their best interest to sit with other friends. But as her luck would have it, Zoe had no other friends. And therefore, Tessa watched as Zoe pulled up a seat and sat next to her instead.

"So…where's everyone else?" Zoe asked a little coldly. Tessa shrugged as she put her large headphones away and gave the theatre a dismal look. Orientation would be starting in ten to fifteen minutes and so far, her and Zoe were the only ones…in THEIR group of friends to arrive. She seriously hoped that this would change.

Tessa had started school at Demure two years before. Her father, who owned a television station that broadcasted mostly news blocks and bad talk shows had sent her there under her mothers suggestion. Her parents were divorced, but her mother still mostly had the upper hand. She was a psychiatrist, and therefore, was very good at speaking in ways which could easily convince anyone of anything.

Tessa didn't think her father minded too much, though. Between him being the sort of man who considered business a top priority and her mother being the sort of person who considered mental stability and "normalcy" as a main concern, they could both agree on at least one thing. Tessa didn't fit either of their molds…maybe Demure would help with that a bit.

Instead of helping, as they had hoped it would, in the last two years, Tessa had made it her goal to be as different from either of her parents as humanly possible.

She brushed a little of her black hair out of her face, only to get a better look at the faces entering the room. When it became apparent that she could see no one whom was of interest to her, she replaced her black hair so it covered her eyes and shrugged at the smaller girl, before pulling out her headphones again and putting them over her ears. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zoe give her a dark look.

**Zoe Martinagrau**

Zoe examined Tessa with distaste. If she had it her way, she would not have friends like Tessa Burdine. The girl's family was brought up well and loaded; yet she still dressed as though some relative had just died.

Zoe turned away from the morbid girl and looked back towards the entrance in time to see Lili and Angus walk in. She felt a little relief. Although she was quite cynical, Lili was not near as bad as Tessa. And Angus…well…

Zoe frowned.

Well…Lili's all right anyways.' Zoe thought dully. Behind her, Tessa had spotted the two as well and was once again removing her headphones.

Zoe criticized Lili mentally as she approached. Pretty though she was, the girl had apparently gone through yet another summer without discovering the meaning of fashion. She was wearing purplish red skirt, which matched her hair and would have looked nice if it had not been for the lime green and black shirt and her traditional fingerless gloves.

Her hair was an improvement anyway, apparently she had finally decided that she was far too old for the long pigtails and had traded them in for a shoulder length cut which flipped slightly (Though not intentionally) at the bottom.

Beside Zoe, Tessa gave Lili a small smile.

"You look about as thrilled as I feel." She said in her emotionless voice. Lili sighed and took a seat next to Tessa. Much to Zoe's annoyance, she paid her no mind.

(No Particular POV)

"I can't believe it's already been three months." Lili was saying. "I swear the summer gets shorter every year."

Tessa nodded.

"Doesn't make much difference to me. It's either here with all of these preppies, or at home with my mom or dad."

Lili nodded vaguely.

Angus, who had been looking for a seat as close to Lili as possible, finally settled for sitting beside Zoe. He nodded to the chubby girl, who purposefully ignored him.

"I know what you guys mean." He said, really just trying to get into the conversation. "My dads been really irritating this summer. He tried to get me to go to like…fifty different young businessmen classes and stuff. I had to go to a couple. But I managed to save up enough of his bribery cash to go to the ZARK fest, so I guess it was worth it."

Tessa gave Angus an odd look.

"That dorky trading card game has a festival dedicated to it? How much did you pay for it?"

"Only three hundred bucks." Angus said brightly. Tessa shook her head.

"Lord, I need new friends."

"I've been praying for the same thing, Tess. Hasn't worked yet." A voice said from behind her. She looked up, brushing a few strands out of the way of her vision to do so. She sighed.

"Apparently another of my prayers wasn't answered, your still here." She said darkly. The boy gave her an impish grin.

Lester Quartz was a large boy (not in mass, but in muscle, even at his young age.) with dark hair and eyes that simply glittered with mayhem.

"Come one Tess, you know that if I wasn't here you'd be stuck with only fatty, dorky and Lili. You'd miss me." He yanked a chair out from under a nicely dressed boy in front of them and pulled it up beside Lili who was playing with something around her wrist and was not showing much interest in his arrival or the conversation.

"Yeah right. What's with your hair anyway, it's not shaved off this year. Your dad decided to actually keep you out of military camp this summer?"

"Nah. I went somewhere else instead."

Angus gave him a curious look.

"Like a summer camp…or something?"

Lester grinned.

"Well…maybe not a camp…it had bunk beds anyways." Tessa rolled her eyes.

Lester for some reason seemed satisfied with this reaction and turned to face Lili, who was still ignoring him. He leaned in closer to her until she finally looked up.

"Hey Lili." Lili's eyes narrowed wearily. A few seats away, unseen by either Lili or Lester, Angus was glaring at the larger boy portentously.

"Your looking particularly hot this year, if you don't mind me saying." He grinned sleazily. Lili rolled her eyes.

In the process of leaning in closer just to annoy her, Lester let out a cry and began to furiously stomp the floor. Everyone but Lili looked at him in a startled manner.

"What's wrong with you?" Tessa asked, slightly perplexed.

Lester backed off a little and examined his ankle. Part of his pant leg appeared to be burnt off.

"What the hell?" He frowned.

Tessa raised her brow.

"Hmm…spontaneous combustion maybe…too bad it didn't take the rest of you." She sat back in her seat and gave Lili an odd look, who seemed to be purposefully avoiding her gaze.

"Weird." Lester said. He shook his head and rubbed his ankle, wincing slightly. "Think it gives me good reason to go home?"

Tessa snorted.

"Yeah right, what are you going to say? I almost spontaneously combusted, can I go home? Like anyone would believe that. They'd think you set your own leg on fire."

Lester raised his brow.

"Only a moron would set his own leg on fire." He said dully.

"Exactly." Tessa said. Lester glared at her and continued to rub his leg.

He was trying to think of a snappy retort when the lights on the stage flashed on and the ones in the rest of the theatre dimmed. Orientation began.

* * *

Sunset. The rays bounced off of the ocean and reflected on the bridge in a way that made the whole world seem to glow. The reds and oranges intermixed with the deep purples and blues as they embraced at the horizon and glittered in the wafting breeze, which danced by lazily, barely touching the clouds and sending brief patterns through the water.

If anyone would have been walking across the bridge at that time, they probably would have stopped and squinted into the fading sunlight, imagining, that perhaps for a second they had seen a dark figure sitting out on one of the supports, before dismissing it as a figment of their imagination and continuing on.

As it were, a boy about the age of twelve was indeed out there, nearly five hundred feet in the air, dangling his feet over the water, which from that spot seemed very far away.

He brushed a little of his purplish redhair out of his face and leaned against one of the wires with a sigh. To his left, about two miles away, he could see the top of a large circus tent. The lights were being lit. The show would start in a couple hours and if he wasn't there, someone would be very angry with him.

He frowned and stood up reluctantly. Before he started to walk back to the main part of the bridge, he gave the sunset one last look and grabbed at his wrist instinctively. For a moment, a look of comical confusion crossed his countenance as he pulled back his coat sleeve. For some reason the boy's bare wrist upset him. He pulled down his sleeve and began to look around furiously.

Finally, his eyes fell on a tiny green bracelet that had fallen and lodged in a crevice five feet below.

"Oh man…"

At this point, anyone watching would have thought the boy must have been keen on ending it all, for he approached the ledge and stepped over without a second thought. Two seconds later, however, he landed skillfully on a wire, which crudely jutted from underneath the viaduct and walked hurriedly across it towards the tiny ledge which held the bracelet. He leaned over carefully and yanked it gently from the gap, frowning slightly as two of the carefully weaved stitches came unloose.

He set the bracelet on his wrist and tied the two ends together tightly.

"Now don't you come unloose again." He said to himself. He looked up, as though his own voice had startled him and rolled his eyes. "Great…I'm talking to myself again." He shook his head and went about trying to find a way back.

The only way back to the bridge that he could see was to either try to climb back up, which was nearly impossible and very stupid, or to walk the wire all the way back. This did not seem to discourage him at all.

He was about halfway across when he seemed to vanish from the wire entirely. It was perhaps wise, after all to not be seen. For if anyone did, they may think that a twelve year old walking on a wire five hundred feet above a large ocean was a thing to be alarmed about. And he would really like to avoid punishment at least until he got back to the Circus.


	3. The Hours Of Darkness

Chapter Three:

The Hours Of Darkness

Lili opened the door to the small dorm provided to the students who attended Demure. Tessa and Zoe were behind her, all carrying there bags. (Zoe was practically buried under hers.) Lili sighed miserably as she stepped into the room she would have live in for the next nine months.

Tessa followed her, immediately eyeing her bed in the corner and flinging her suitcase more or less on top of it.

"Well, we're here." She said morosely while searching through her suitcase for her headphones. Behind her, Lili was taking a bed on the left side of the room and Zoe was shuffling gradually towards one opposite of her.

"Orientation wasn't too bad this year. I love it when those snobs ignore us." Tessa untangled the cord of her CD player and laid back on her bed.

"I don't." Said the muffled voice of Zoe over a large suitcase. Tessa raised her brow.

"You prefer being called fatty and pig and getting spit at?" Zoe glared at her.

"No, I just wish that I could become friends with some of them. Their really well brought up you know." She answered while finally dropping all of her bags and searching through several sets of her clothes.

"Well brought up?" Tessa questioned bitterly. "How is it well brought up to throw things and call people names?"

"I meant they were brought up to be and act wealthy." She said in a dignified manner.

"Yeah…so what? Me and Lili are rich and we don't act like that. And your family didn't even start out rich…if it weren't for your grandfather croaking you'd be going to some public school…and you act like that anyways. Just because someone's rich doesn't give them the right to be a jerk."

Zoe made a tiny noise of outrage (Particularly when her grandfather was mentioned.) and sat on the other side of her bed, facing away from Tessa.

Tessa rolled her eyes and turned towards Lili, who was laying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.

"Hey Lili. Whats up for your birthday this year?" She said, while sitting up. For a moment, the other girl acted as though she hadn't heard, then, finally she sat up and gave Tessa a weary look.

"I'm probably going to spend it here, around all of these losers." She said while searching her bags for her Pj's and something to put her hair up with.

"That sucks. Your dad's not going to be able to bring you home?" Tessa asked. Lili shrugged.

"He's suppose to, but he's on a really important mish…he has a lot of work to do back at the office…so I doubt he'll get back in time." Tessa gave her a weird look.

"Your dad won't be back from the office in two weeks?"

"It's far away…he's on an important case." She said quickly.

"Oh…" Tessa said.

At this point Zoe turned around, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to be angry at Tessa.

"What exactly does your dad DO Lili?" She asked curiously. Lili frowned and brushed at her arm absently.

"He…works for the government…"

"Yeah…I know that…but what does he do?" Zoe pressed onward.

"I'm not really sure…I just know he's really busy." She said uncomfortably. Tessa grinned.

"Haha, maybe he's a secret agent. And he's out saving the world right now." She said jokingly.

"Maybe…" Lili said, looking slightly distracted. She stood from her bed and gathered her Pj's. "I'm going to go change." She said quickly, before leaving. Tessa shrugged and turned the volume on her CD player up, ignoring Zoe as she complained That it was much too loud because she could hear it ALL the way from her side of the room.

The Hours Of Darkness

The Aquato Circus Put on shows every other day for almost a month wherever they were in town. They held two shows a day at noon and 8:00 on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, which lasted no more then three or four hours and then would always hold one large show on the last Monday before they moved to a new location.

They usually remained fairly busy throughout their stay…and were generally able to fill up half of the seats in the main tent on every showing, but the busiest night was always the last night they were in town. Unlike every other show, this performance was held at midnight and was called, "The Hours Of Darkness." It was a spectacular performance which lasted five hours until the sun rose and featured every act in the lineup. The performers put their hearts into the last show every single time and the result was magnificently dream like and wild. Many of the viewers sat and watched in awe as the circus people almost seemed to go beyond human capabilities.

It was 11:45 and the last show was going to begin in fifteen minutes. All of the seats were filled, the circus people were ready, and the ring master had already taken his place just outside the mouth of the large tent…and yet…they couldn't start, because all of the people in the first act were not yet there.

Outside of the Circus performers trailers, two men stood side by side bitterly, gazing out into the night and looking for any signs of the young performer who they hadn't seen all day. One man, tall, with greasy black hair and a face that tended to scare small children away looked to another…who wasn't much better.

"This is stupid…I don't see why Rafael can't stand out here and wait for his own son to come back…or better yet…why he can't just lock the little brat up so he can't go frolicking around while we got stuff to do." The man pulled a knife out of his belt and began to pick his teeth with it. The other man, slightly shorter, with a Mexican façade, nodded and spat off to the side.

"Debemos cerrar al mocoso pequeño arriba en una caja y lo tira en el río. Esto es la tercera vez él es corrido esta semana." The Mexican man answered wickedly. (Look to the bottom of this page for the translation . )

"Haha…good plan." The tall knife thrower replied.

Raz, who had arrived shortly after the stout man had said some rather unkind things about him in Spanish, was currently standing veiled behind a small tent about twelve feet away. He took a deep breath and then vanished entirely. Raz left his hiding place and tip toed over to the men, praying that his invisibility would not wear off before he was out of view.

Both men had gone silent, and the shorter one had lit a cigar and had begun blowing the fowl smelling smoke in Raz's general area. He blinked furiously due to the awful fumes drifting about his eyes and resisted the urge to start coughing. Five seconds later when he was behind another tent he let his wall of invisibility fall. He breathed in quietly and then ran off towards hisfather's trailer so he could change. He would be late…but not by too long.

Raz didn't hate the circus so much anymore…especially since his father had let him set time aside for his OTHER training, but he still wasn't particularly fond of all of the flashy lights and the crowds and having to put on so many shows a week. He found himself longing for the mental world whenever he wasn't there and for the pleasant landscape surrounding Whispering Rock.

This emotion was particularly strong in the night, at 11:00, right after a show had ended and when he was lying in bed, or in the trailer, when they were on their way to yet another location. Raz hated moving around so much, when you were constantly on the road it was very hard to make friends…and so, at Raz's age, he was dreadfully lonely.

Then, there was Lili. He hadn't seen her for over a year, ever since they had gone on that mission to rescue her father, Truman Zanotto. Raz missed her a lot. The longer he was away from her, the more she plagued his mind. It got in the way of both his circus training and his Psychonauts training. His father had noticed this on several occasions and constantly asked him what was wrong, but Raz didn't think it would do much good to talk about it…as far as he knew, his family and the Zanottos were never in the same state, let alone in the same general area. He feared more and more that he would never see her again.

Logic would say that their relationship had just been a summer fling…that it was puppy love and that they were too young to be so affected by it…but it certainly didn't feel that way. Besides, Raz had been taken to an abandoned insane asylum in the throat of a disfigured lung fish, had visited and fixed (Or in Boyd's case broken) several disturbed minds, had helped to defeat a mad dentist and had lost his brain which had intermingled with a deranged camp counselors,thrusting them both in a warped and combined version of both of their troubled childhoods…what the hell did logic have to do with anything?

Raz pushed these thoughts out of his mind as he hurried over to the small bed he slept on and gathered up his circus threads. When he wasn't wearing them, he had adopted a similar fashion to that of the famous Psycho soldier, Sasha Nein, a style which made him look a great deal more fashionable then his age suggested. He had even given up his helmet and had grown out his hair a little so that the similarity was unquestionable. He only ever wore his goggles anymore when he was on a mission into someone's mind, or in certain circus performances. His father often half joked about how Raz had begun to look more like the older Psychonaut then he did his own father. Raz would never say it aloud…but this came to somewhat of a relief to him. He loved his father…but he really didn't have any desire to end up looking like him.

He grimaced as he pulled on the leotardsitting on his bedand then hurried towards the main tent, hoping that he was not so late as to hold up the show noticeably.

Spanish Translation:

_We should lock the little brat up in a box and throw him in the river. This is the third time he's run off this week._

Yay for more chapters! More to come!


	4. Another Day

Chapter 4:

Another Day

_In his dreams he often visited the abandoned insane asylum at the edge of Lake Oblongata. He would be walking through the murky twisting hallways, as his ears prickled every once in a while at the sound of rats scampering about, awaiting the chance to come out of the shadows…their tiny eyes red pin points of light. He would turn sharp corners…sometimes walking on the ceiling or the walls or on staircases that twisted upside down or that broke off in mid air. _

_Sometimes he'd be in one of the dark rooms on a rock hard bed…his arms oddly bound as they crossed his chest in an uncomfortable manner, listening to the sounds of crows calling in the night outside his window…and the distant sound of a troubled man muttering frantic thoughts to himself. _

_And then for a moment everything would change and the bed would become solid ground and the mist would thicken…and out where the fog grew thick and dark, he would see the faint lines of something coming towards him…in the night…tires squeaking at a slow pace…dark and glowing windows like eyes and the world would fill up with water and there would be no escape._

At this point, he usually woke up bathed in sweat, as was the case this time, although, it was probably because of the bump in the road that he was shaken from his slumbers rather then the nature of his dreams.

Raz ran a shaky hand through his sweat soaked hair and stared around the tiny room with the barred window. By now he was used to living inside of the small wooden trailer and slumbering on the worn bed while the traveling circus rode over bumpy dirt trails and abandoned roads. Of course adjusting to his surroundings was one thing and did not necessarily mean the same thing as actually liking them. He didn't think he would ever really ENJOY living like this…but certainly he could put up with it for the sake of his father and the rest of the circus.

Raz swung his legs off of the mattress and stepped onto the dark wooden floor. Outside, he heard the sound of some of the circus people having entirely too much fun at seven o' clock in the morning. They often did this after the last night at a location…because while traveling, the circus people were not required to practice…so…as logic would have it when one was a poor performer with no responsibility for at least another 72 hours one would either get very drunk…or would have entirely too much time to think about where their life was going. Needless to say…many of the performers chose to spend the time under the bottle.

Raz attempted to drown out the sound of both men and women laughing and shouting obscenities (All of which, seemed to be coming from just outside his window.) by stuffing a pillow between the bars. After a moment when it didn't seem to be helping at all he gave up and sat down at a small desk in the corner of his tiny room. (Although desk was kind of a poor word…it was more a hand crafted table like thing made out of a splintered piece of drift wood and a fold up chair with a faded rainbow of colors across the back.)

He sighed and pulled out a small wooden box with his name carved roughly on the surface. He removed the lid. Inside was what appeared to be a very ugly necklace…Which was either full of meaning which hopefully…gave it inner beauty that surpassed it's dreadful exterior or…more likely was made by a young man who had no idea that a girl wouldn't be caught dead in something so completely awful. As it were…it was a bit of both in this situation.

Raz reached into his pocket and pulled out a very tiny golden charm…which seemed to have faded and perhaps been charred a little over the years that it had lain abandon after falling off of what might have been a lovely charm bracelet at one point. Raz added it to the tiny golden chain…taking another few points off of the necklaces appearance and worth. He hooked the ends of the necklace together and examined it for a moment…his face contorted into something like distaste. He squinted a little (Perhaps to see if it looked any better when he did.) then seemed to give up and put it back into the wooden box.

"Man, this thing is ugly…" He said below his breath as he stored it back on the shelf just a little above his desk. He pulled out a piece of paper beside it, along with a pencil and scribbled something down on it hurriedly. When that was finished he sat back in the chair and eyed the piece of parchment wearily, reading the last couple of lines to himself while his mind wandered.

_Fargone, Chaintown. _

_Weird shaped pebble…kind of shaped like a heart or something…I guess._

_I dunno…I TRIED to find something better._

_Cort, Timber Falls._

_Went to the sea…Found a weird black stone…I think it might actually_

_Be a pearl. It took me forever to get it out of the water…_

_I thought I'd drown trying to get the stupid thing. _

_LessVille, Hollow City_

_It's a charm…looks kind of like a woman or something…whatever_

_It was…I think it might have caught fire at some point._

Without really paying attention, he stuffed the notes back onto the shelf and stood up…outside; the circus people seemed to be growing quiet (Not because the party was over…of course…but because by then…most of them had passed out.)

Raz headed back to his bed, despite the now bright sunshine glaring in his window. He had had a long night and thought he might be able to sleep for the rest of the day. (Which was one thing that was nice about moving from place to place…plenty of resting time between locations.) Besides, with the sunlight, perhaps his dreams would not aim towards dark corroded hallways and gypsy caravans, which came out from the gathering fog.

He rested on his bed and closed his eyes, falling into a light half sleep almost instantly, resting between wake and sleep, in a place where even normal people could hear far away voices crying out from the darkness (Although _they _could convince themselves it was only their imagination.) But unlike the haunting voices he heard in his nightmares…the voices that muttered curses over and over or those from the insane asylum that went into winding conversations with themselves about their paranoid delusions…the voices he heard as he fell into a deeper and pleasantly dreamless sleep were comforting.

Sasha had once said that all minds were linked together in the mental world. He had said this when he had presented to Razputin a tiny chain of connected doors that he had called the collective unconscious. If Raz had been thinking of that at the time, he might have convinced himself that the familiar thoughts he was hearing in his light slumber were in fact real thoughts coming from a real mind…maybe thousands of miles away. As it were…he just dismissed them as being hallucinations found in a place between sleep and wake…and let them fall into the darkness as he drifted off to sleep.

Demure Academy

Lili felt someone shaking her lightly as she slept. She tried to ignore it (For she was having a very pleasant dream.) But was unable to for long as a streak of sunlight hit her face and burned into her closed lids. She opened her eyes. It was Tessa who had been trying to shake her from her slumbers.

"Finally." She said, with something that could just barely register as a smile on her face. "Must've slept well…personally I thought Zoe's bubble gum pop alarm clock could awaken the dead…not necessarily because it was loud…but because the terrible sound would be enough to enrage them from their slumbers." For a moment it seemed as though she was rather taken with this idea…then she shook it off and turned to head back towards her own bed. Lili sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

"Great…morning already." She said, her voice edged with sarcasm. "Figures…Night always seems to have enough time for my nightmares, but good dreams always get cut off." She hopped from her bed and began pulling clothes out of her suitcase.

"I like nightmares." Tessa said absently. "You know…after there over." She added a little awkwardly. "What were you dreaming about?" She straightened and tossed Lili a distracted look. Lili's eyes seemed to glaze over a little.

"Nothing…just stuff." She started to head towards the bathroom to change.

"What sort of stuff?" Tessa asked, while giving her friend her full attention. "Because if it really as a good dream…oh like…Lester bursting into flames or something…I want to hear all of the details."

Lili shrugged as she pushed open the door.

"Nothing like that. It was just about…" She seemed to think for a moment. "The circus I guess." Tessa rose her brow.

"The circus?"

Lili nodded and closed the door.

"Kay…sounds more like a nightmare to me." Tessa muttered to herself.

Zoe came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and when she saw the chubby blond girl, bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"How does this look…and be honest?" Zoe asked. She raised her chubby arms clothed in a sweatshirt that seemed to be savaged by a large pink animal…

"Umm…honest?" Tessa said, regaining her composure. Zoe nodded.

Tessa seemed to suffer and ultimately loose a small inner conflict within herself.

"You look like a small fluffy pink meatball…perhaps digested…" She thought this over for a minute. "At least once." Zoe's face turned a bright red as her brow contorted into annoyance and slight anger.

"Don't know why I asked you. YOU have no style." She turned with a huff, which would have been more effective if there hadn't been tiny white fluff balls on the back of her sweatshirt. Tessa turned away and stifled her laughter, deciding that she'd rather not make the small girl too mad.

At this moment Lili came out of the bathroom.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, examining Tessa, who was biting her fist. The girl shook her head and nodded towards the door.

"Better get going." She said while taking a deep breath. Lili nodded and grabbed her bag. As she passed Zoe on her way toward the door she eyed the girl.

"That looks really childish." She said without changing her face. "The hats dumb." She opened the door and headed out into the hallway, turning her back on the blonde girlwho was looking at her with a mixture of shock and anger. Tessa followed her out.

Lili turned towards the direction of the cafeteria and just about collided with Angus, who was standing patiently outside their door. She stopped abruptly and was nearly knocked off her feet when Tessa ran into her.

Angus smiled an embarrassed and apologetic smile.

"Sorry." He said quickly. He threw his arms out to keep Lili's books from falling and was devastated when he accidentally knocked them out of her hands instead. Lili watched bemusedly as they fell, along with her brand new pack of notebook paper which came undone and scattered all over the floor. After a moment of shocked silence, Lili stooped down and began to gather her things.

Angus, who was turning a bright red color, bent down and helped her. Behind Lili, Tessa shook her head.

"Angus, you're the biggest klutz I've ever met." Tessa voiced. (Not particularly in an unkind way.)

"I know." He said, his voice full of apology. As both him and Lili stood, he handed her stuff to her quickly. "I'm so sorry, I…"

"'s alright." Lili said absently as she walked past him. He turned and watched her, feeling slightly disappointed at her utter lack of interest. He spun around and gave Tessa a bewildered look. She shrugged.

"She's been out of it since yesterday." The girl said. Angus nodded.

"I've noticed…" He said. He thought over his next statement, making sure it didn't sound like anything that crossed the border of friendship. "I'm starting to worry about her." He finally said, his blush coming back a little. Tessa didn't seem to notice.

"Well…you know how Lili gets around her birthday. It's probably nothing to worry about." She started to head down the hall. Angus, who seemed to think about this for a moment, nodded distractedly and headed after her.

To manlady: Umm…if ur asking if this is a Raz/Lili fic…then the answer is yes. It is…just not yet. If not, then I apologize…but I'm not sure what ur asking.

Hope u like the update.


	5. Troubles Of The Fat Lady

Chapter Five:

Troubles of The Fat Lady

It was around noon when Raz awoke to find the trailers had stopped. He rolled over and squinted at the tiny barred window, listening intently for any snips of conversation (Or thoughts.) that he could hear. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he rolled off the bed and dressed quickly into a pair of old ripped jeans that were slightly too small for him and a faded long sleeved shirt. (All of his good clothes weren't clean; he could barely find the time to wash them properly when traveling.)

After glancing briefly at a mirror and ultimately deciding the he looked kind of funny (He had grown an inch or two in the last couple years and was getting thinner…a thing made painfully obvious by the slightly too tight pants and baggy formless shirt. Maybe he'd turn into his father after all.) He headed out into the sunlight to find out why they had stopped.

A line of wooden old-fashioned trailers lined the dusty dirt road, adding an array of disgustingly bright colors to the dull landscape. In the center, someone had started a campfire and a few circus misfits were standing around it looking frustrated.

The magician, Godric Twilight was sitting on a wooden crate next to his assistant. They passed a bottle between each other, filled with some indefinable liquid. Beside them, the bearded woman was smoking a cigarette and chatting excitedly with Baroda Van Darken, the strong man…who was apparently trying to find something to hit himself in the head with, so that he might drown out the woman's chatter.

Raz walked into the circle curiously, so focused on the current situation that he didn't notice as someone stuck their foot out in front of him. A look of surprise lit his face as he tripped over the worn hiking boot and landed hard on the road. A moment later he rose on his hands, tasting a mixture of blood and dirt, and looked behind him, annoyed.

Boris Batiks, the knife thrower. (Although Raz was always surprised that they were able to find someone willing to let the shifty man throw sharp objects at them.) He was a tall man with cold eyes which glittered with dark humor (As though some wretched and dirty joke were going on inside his mind at all times.)

"Oops." He said, grinning and brandishing a mouthful of hideously rotten teeth. "Now how'd my foot get there?"

Raz got up, glaring at him. (If he hadn't been preoccupied, he wouldn't have tripped. He was, after all, for the most part a very sure-footed young man.)

"Heard you whining in your sleep last night, crying like a baby over a bad dream." The man pulled out a knife and started to pick his teeth with it. Raz wouldn't have been surprised if he accidentally picked a tooth out by accident…they looked so decayed.

"Yea…" Raz said, smiling a little. "That's because you were in it. Your face is enough to give anyone nightmares" It wasn't a particularly creative statement, but it made Boris' eyes glitter with anger nonetheless.

"Think that's funny? Just because Rafael's been soft on you lately, doesn't mean I won't skin you like a fish, you rotten little bas-"

"Boris." A heavyset man came up behind the knife thrower and clapped him on the back. In a very quiet tone he whispered into Boris' ear. "No lo deje conseguirle. Hay maneras mejores de ocuparse de estas pequeñas maneras de los monstruos... que no nos consigan encendidos."

Boris nodded and turned to Raz, who was looking at both of them suspiciously. How he hated the knowing look in that boys hateful eyes…as though he knew everything they were thinking. He wished he could snuff it out for good…

"Away with you. I'm sick of seeing your face." He spat at the twelve year old, who turned away, unfazed. Anyone else would worry about the ease in which Boris dismissed them. They'd make sure not to turn their back on him. But that boy and his blasted arrogance!

"At least mine doesn't make people cry." Raz said quietly as he left. Boris gazed at the back of his head, wishing that looks really could kill.

After he was a little ways from Boris and Pasco, the ticket man. (A man who made almost everyone nervous because half of the circus people did not know Spanish, and therefore could not ever monitor what he was saying.) Raz sped up (Speeding up around the man might make him believe Raz was slightly intimidated by him…and Raz most definitely didn't want that.) slowing as he came to the small group gathered around the fire. His father was not among them.

"What's going on?" He asked curiously. A few heads turned towards him, regarding him wearily.

"Beth has gone on one of her rants." The bearded lady said with a hint of cynicism. "Last night she started shrieking in her sleep, and when someone finally went to see what was wrong they said she was convinced that someone had been trying to murder her in her slumber."

"Ah think she's clacked!" Baroda said loudly. "That…or it's all ove those Twinkles she ates before she sleps." Raz backed away from him a bit, as the man literally spat out his thoughts.

"What the hell's a twinkle?" Godric asked, as he took another drink of the foreign substance in the glass.

"You know…a twinkle…sugary…felled weth aycine" He made some indefinable hand motions that were apparently suppose to make the whole thing clear.

"Oh…" Godric said with a look of annoyance. "You mean a TWINKIE. All of those TWINKIES she eats before bed."

"Yah…whut ah said…a twinkle."

Godric sighed.

"Twinkie, twinkie…you twit." He said below his breath as the strong man's attention was forced back on the bearded lady.

Raz rolled his eyes and headed for the fat lady's trailer. It was four or five trailers up from his and had a picture of a ridiculously chubby woman painted on the front. Raz headed up to the door and knocked.

"I told you!" Came a males voice from the other side. "She's very upset, now, go away!"

"Dad?" Raz returned. There was hesitation from the other side, then the door unlatched and opened. His father looked down at him and silently beckoned him in.

"She's been in hysterics all morning…I can't figure out what to do with her!" He whispered furiously. "It's been hours since she woke up and I still can't convince her it was all a dream."

"Man this place smells." Raz said, without thinking. His father gave him a stern look.

"Quiet, Razputin." Raz nodded.

Beth was crumpled in the corner, holding a wretched carnival glass lamp (The sort that might give Sasha a few inconsolable nightmares.) up to her enormous bosom and whispering nervously under her breath. When she saw them, her whispering grew louder.

"In the corner, with a knife, glowing eyes, his teeth were like…" She made a few odd gestures in front of her face. " All claws, twenty feet high!" She hid her face behind the lamp. (A pitiful attempt given how massive it as.)

"Beth, this trailer isn't even twenty feet high. It was all a dream." Rafael told the woman desperately.

She shook her head furiously. (Raz marveled at how her shaking neck meats could send a person into disgusted fascination.)

"No, he was here! Mouth took up most of his face, eyes like glowing coals, hair like SNAKES!" She whimpered and attempted to hide again.

Rafael sighed and turned to his son, planning to tell him to go out and inform the others of how the situation looked. He was a little surprised to find that Raz was approaching the fat lady with a look of professional expertise printed across his face.

"So let me get this straight…" Raz said, with a touch of what might have been sarcasm, if his face wasn't full of intense sincerity. " He had a knife, glowing red eyes, sharp teeth AND claws, hair of snakes…and he was twenty feet high?" The lady nodded, frightened.

"Sounds scary." His voice was still full of that gentle sarcasm. He was speaking to her as one might speak to a small child or someone who has gone absolutely nuts.

Beth's face hardened a little.

"You all think I've lost it! But it's true. There's a mark he left. There on the wall." She pointed to a place in the corner.

Raz turned and looked. There was nothing there. He turned back towards her.

"You see it?" Raz gave her a funny look, but was saved having to answer her when his father sighed and started out of the trailer.

"I'll tell the others we're going to stay here for the night." He closed the door behind him. Raz turned back to Beth, who was looking at him pleadingly.

"It's true, Razputin. I saw him!" Raz frowned and looked back towards the wall. He still couldn't see anything. Finally, after a moment of consideration, he began to rub his temple. Beth looked up at him curiously.

"What are you doing?" She asked, slightly alarmed.

"Hold still, Miss Fermi." Raz answered.

Beth was suddenly overcome with a sensation of invisible fingers opening her mind, parting whatever barriers were there so that it felt bare and vulnerable. She felt, the odd impression that someone could easily look straight into her skull and see the inner workings of her conscience. After a moment of blankness which seemed to pass rather quickly, the inside of the trailer came back and she was staring at the thin form of Razputin. He was standing in the corner, though she couldn't remember how he got there and was running his fingers over the precise place where she could still see the mark engraved in the wall.

"You see it now?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah." Raz answered, much to her immediate relief. His tones were normal and serious.

"You'll tell your father? You'll tell them I'm not crazy?" She asked almost pleadingly. Raz gave her a very strange look that she could not identify, then nodded and headed for the door.

"Of course I will." He said gently as he left trailer.

When he got into the open air he wondered in a direction away from his father and the other circus people. There was time to tell his father what he saw. Until then, he didn't want to involve anyone else that they traveled with. He didn't want this for two reasons. One was that although his father had accepted Raz's talents and knew of his training and his OTHER responsibilities…as far as Raz knew, no one else in the circus had any idea…and letting them in on it might prove to be a poor decision.

The other reason, the one that made Raz a little nervous and very suspicious, was that although Beth's description of the man had most certainly been wrong, or at least exaggerated…something or _someone _had paid her a visit the night before, and had indeed left a mark on the wall. There were a lot of people who traveled with them, some misfits, some freaks of society, ex convicts, illegal foreigners, drunks, bums…with such a colorful group of people, you couldn't help but suspect…well…everyone.

Raz was almost a quarter of a mile away from the group of trailers lined on the road. He kept walking, planning to go as far as he could without losing sight of the colorful procession. As he walked he saw something shimmering in the grass. He picked it up, and put it in his faded pockets. It would make a nice addition to Lili's necklace.

Spanish Translation:

_Don't let him get to you. There are better ways to deal with these little monsters...ways that will not get us fired!_

Wow, a whole chapter on Raz. Next one will have to be on Lili, so that I can get this story moving along. I also decided to add some action in it, only to make it a little more interesting.

Thanx for the reviews!


	6. Whatever it Takes

Chapter Six:

Whatever It Takes

Someone waved a hand in front of Lili's face.

"Hey, Lili…wake up." As she came out of her daze she shifted her gaze back and forth between Tessa and Angus. In front of her, on a wooden table was beaker with some unknown liquid inside. It was bubbling.

"Huh?" She said.

"I asked you, 'what does the book say to add in next?'" Tessa repeated patiently.

"Oh." Lili said. She looked down at the book in her hands. It was turned to a page, which appeared to give directions on how to perform open-heart surgery. She wondered briefly why a student in the sixth grade would need to know this before raising her eyes.

"What page are we on?" She asked without too much embarrassment. Tessa sighed and took the book from her.

"You know Lili, you could at least pretend to help." Tessa turned towards Angus.

"Alright, it says to add the food coloring to the oil and see what happens. Angus…add the food coloring." He nodded. Tessa turned to Lili.

"So, what's up with you? Usually you do well in class…or…at least…you know…pay SOME attention."

"Huh?" Lili said. She had been playing with something around her wrist. Tessa sighed.

"What's wrong with you lately? You've had your head in the clouds since we arrived." Lili shrugged.

"I was just thinking." She stared at the result of the experiment with little interest. It was the sort of silly trial that would have made Sasha cringe. "That's very boring." She said as she copied the answer for question 7. Angus watched it for a moment before looking up at her and shrugging.

"What were you thinking about?" Tessa asked as she copied the answer down as well.

"Stuff. Old friends, I guess." She said simply before standing and walking up to the front of the class to hand in her lab. Tessa watched her for a moment before turning to Angus who was cleaning up the equipment.

"Is she always this depressed around her birthday?" Angus looked up from the colorful water that was currently swirling down the drain of the sink.

"No…usually she's just extra cynical." He said fondly. Tessa nodded.

"Her dad _is_ picking her up this year…isn't he?" Angus turned and looked at Lili from across the room.

"He says he will every year…doesn't he?" He stated. His voice held a tone that made Tessa look down. She knew how it was…having parents that barely knew you existed.

"Oh." She said.

The bell rang.

The rest of the day went by with little event. Lili would go into a daydream every once in a while. For the most part Tessa let it pass, except for in one instance when they were in PE and Lili nearly got hit in the face with a ball. Either way she would have come out of her daydream, but Tessa decided that Lili would prefer to NOT be hit in the face with a four square ball.

The whole time, Tessa had been going over something in her mind. By lunchtime, she felt that she had the whole thing sorted out. All she needed to do at this point was to wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself, thereby giving her the opportunity to relay it to her other friends.

She was not disappointed. About fifteen minutes after lunch began, a sound like someone screaming drifted over the busy hall. At their small table of outcasts, Lester was the first to raise his head and identify the source of ruckus.

" It's Jamie." He said simply. The others shared a look.

Jamie Baton was your typical muscle headed jock, and more so. He had a build that was a cross between a football player and a sumo wrestler. Out of the two pastime's, he chose the first…and Demur's team, which was otherwise made mostly of rich sissy's who would treat a broken nail in about the same way as a girl would, was glad to have him. He was slow as hell…but no one EVER knocked him down. Ever.

Right now he was tormenting a very small boy whose eyes were two wide circles on his pale, sun-deprived face.

"It's Manny." Angus breathed. "I thought his parents took him out of this school last year after someone broke his leg."

At the end of the table Lili had come out of her daydream and was watching Manny and Jamie along with everyone else. Her eyes narrowed, and, without a word she stood with her tray and began walking in their direction.

"Lili!" Angus called to her in a loud whisper. She either didn't hear, or chose to ignore him.

* * *

"Haha." Jamie's chuckle sounded something like a horn, which had inexplicably learned to gag. His shadow fell over Manny, who was staring up at him in horror. There were tears falling from his eyes. People all over the lunchroom had turned from their conversations to watch, an exception being the teachers…who were pretending not to notice. This is what really made her angry…they never did anything. When it was someone like Jamie Baton, whose parents donated 50 percent of the sports funds and owned half the town…when it was their quarterback…_they never did anything! _This was especially the case when his poor victim turned out to be a small whimpering little boy who fit quite nicely into the outcast division of their quaint little society. 

Jamie, who had grabbed the tiny boy by his shirt and was currently threatening to hang him up off the top of the football stands, looked up as the claret haired girl walked unabashedly towards the trashcan and emptied the contents of her tray into it. With that task done, she turned her emerald eyes on him and gave him a blank and almost bored look. She stepped in front of him.

"I would leave that kid alone if I were you." She said. Jamie grinned stupidly at her.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do if I don't? Run off and tell a teacher?"

"No." She said. Her stare didn't waver.

"Oh…hehe, you going to fight me, little girl?" Her eyelashes flickered downward at this.

"No. But I will punch you until you cry…and I might set you on fire…and then, when you ask me to let you go…I might not listen." The threatening thing about the way she said it was that she stated it in the tone of someone suggesting that she had done it before, and doing so on him would be MUCH easier then it had been before. And it was clear she wasn't scared. There was a flicker of uncertainty in Jamie's eyes.

"Yeah. Well come on then." He said, with less humor and more anger. "Beat me up."

It would be several weeks before Jamie played football again. Later, when he was asked how he could possible be beaten up by a girl half his size and a fifth of his weight by his mortified father…he would explain that he had thought he had had everything under control…right up until the point that she had kicked him in the crotch, punched him the stomach, busted his nose, and dislocated his arm. After that he was sure that things had gone wrong. He didn't know what happened, he said, he just sort of froze…like invisible hands had been holding him in place.

When the teachers realized that things had taken an unexpected turn, they pretended to come out of their blissful cloud and hurried towards the struggle, taking place on the other side of the room. No force was involved to break it up. Lili simply stood back from the collapsed form of Jamie when they arrived and was directed towards the principal's office. Before she went Manny thanked her quietly. The teachers ignored him as he walked towards the restroom to clean the blood off of his face. (At this point it could not be determined whether Jamie had hit him, or if he had simply had a nosebleed induced by fear.)

* * *

Back at the lunch table, Tessa exchanged a look with Angus. Lester was still watching the area where the fight had taken place a moment before. His eyes were wide. 

Zoe didn't seem to care about what was happening around her. She was busy with something that she seemed to feel was more important. (Having to do with stickers and glitter and other sorts of stupid stuff like that.)

Angus sighed.

"Now she really won't be happy." He said morosely.

"Why?" said the astonished voice of Lester. "She freakin won!"

"So what?" Tessa said bitterly. "That idiot Jamie should be in the office, not her." She was gathering up her food to dispose of it, when she remembered her thoughts from earlier in the day. She sat back down, a look of determination on her face. Lester looked at her and raised his brow.

"Guys, listen…I was just thinking about Lili earlier and her birthday. Her dad never comes to get her like he says he will." Their faces were blank.

"Yes?" Said Lester, with little interest.

"Yeah…and she's been really, well…mopey this year, right?" She said, switching her gaze from person to person.

"So, what if…this year…we had sort of…a backup birthday for her here…in case, you know, her dad doesn't come through for her again." She waited.

Lester gave her a doubtful look.

"I dunno…Lili's kind of…you know…hard to please…and scary. Do we even know what she likes?"

"We'll find out!" Tessa replied quickly. "We'll do research and figure out all of that stuff. Come on! She deserves a good birthday this year."

In front of her, Angus broke into a smile.

"I agree with Tessa. We SHOULD give Lili a good birthday. Maybe it'll cheer her up."

Lester shrugged.

"Or maybe it won't make any difference at all. Oh…and if you think I'll be the one to search through her junk and find out what she likes…then your sadly mistaken." He said as he stood to throw his stuff away.

"No problem, I'll do that." Tessa said. "I share a room with her."

Angus nodded brightly.

"Yeah. We'll find out what she wants no matters what it takes!"

With this, the bell rang.

* * *

Hehe. Sorry for the delay my lovely's…I've been working on other stuff. Still, here it is, sorry it's short…but it shouldn't take me too long to update. 

Haha…whatever it takes. Too bad what she wants is another boy.


	7. Two Treacherous Men In The Night

Chapter Seven:

Two Treacherous Men in the Night.

The first stars were starting to come out in the darkness, which was beginning to expand over the sky. Closer to the horizon the world was still on fire as the sun was in its final stage of setting. Much of the Circus had already turned in due to pounding headaches from having far too much fun the night before…or pounding headaches from having to listen to Beth screaming from inside her trailer.

The only light was that of the campfire. In front of it was a lone figure, sitting on a faded fold up chair, which had seen better days.

Raz approached his father, grateful that he was finally alone.

"Hey dad." He said casually as he pulled up an equally battered lawn chair.

"Razputin, I was beginning to think you'd run off again. Haven't seen you since this morning." He smiled a little awkwardly to show he was only half kidding.

"Nah, I was just…you know…around." He said, waving his explanation away as though it were not in the least bit important. (In truth he had spent much of the day being invisible and spying on people of whom he was slightly suspicious of…which…in this circus was nearly everyone.)

"Oh?" His father said, eyeing his son skeptically. Although he accepted Raz' psychic abilities and his responsibility of being a Psychonaut, he was aware that his son was quit prone to getting himself into trouble. He couldn't help but be concerned about the way in which Raz used his powers sometimes.

"Listen, I need to talk to you about Miss Fermi." Raz said after a moment of silence. Rafael raised his brow.

"Hmm?" He said after poking the fire and giving his son his full attention.

"Remember that scratch she said was left on the wall after she was attacked?"

"Yes…the one that wasn't there."

"Well…after you left…I…decided to get a better look at it and…"

"And getting a better look would involve…?" Rafael gave his son a stern look.

"I used clairvoyance…" The look on his fathers face told him he'd better come up with a very fast explanation as to why he used his powers in front of someone who didn't know about them. "I know it's risky! But listen, I SAW the scratch on the wall…and I could feel it…even when I wasn't looking through Miss Fermi's eyes."

Rafael sighed and threw the stick he had used to poke the fire into the dying flames.

"I don't know how many times I've told you…" He said below his breath. "I understand that you're a Psychonaut Razputin. But you have to be careful around people who do not understand. As I have said before…we have MANY enemies."

"I know dad, but…"

"As for Beth…" Rafael raised his hand to silence his son. "I'm sure she saw _something _on the wall…but that scratch could have came from anywhere. Just because she believes it came from a ten foot man with glowing eyes who was trying to kill her doesn't make it true." Raz crossed his arms.

"I'm not saying it DID come from that…she's obviously suffering from some delusions…but…maybe someone WAS in her trailer last night."

"Well…for the moment I'd prefer to believe that no one in my circus is trying to kill anyone." Rafael said as he stood. "Why don't you get some rest son? We'll be moving out tomorrow." He started towards his own trailer.

Raz sighed and rested his chin in his palm.

XXX

Boris lobbed a knife towards a wood cutout of a man. The violence behind the effort caused the wood to splinter as the blade stuck vibrating in the timber man's chest. He grinned. If only he could perform a trick like that on a real human being. THAT would be a feat worth watching. He stepped forward and yanked the knife from the solid surface.

Behind him the shadows moved abnormally as Pasco, the ticket man stepped forward and handed the gangly knife thrower a battered cigar.

"Lo tomé de Godric. Estaba con su varita phony." (I took it from Godric, it was with his phony wand.)

Boris nodded and lit the cigar, pressed it to his lips and breathed in as though the horrible smoke was an absolute ecstasy.

"Stop with your Spanish, Pasco. It's giving me a headache." He said, his voice muffled by the cigar.

"Very well, Boris. I trust you kept eye on everyone.' He said in a thick Spanish accent, though, he was still perfectly capable of being heard. (Everyone in the Aquato circus would have been amazed to hear that he could speak English at all, heavy accent or not.)

"Yeah. For the most part, anyway. Unfortunately I haven't known the whereabouts of Raf's brat all bloody day." He took another heavy suck of the cigar.

"He's by the fire now. I saw him while I come here." Pasco said as he sat heavily on a large rock beside Boris' trailer.

Boris sneered and threw the knife at the wooden man again. It struck the head this time.

"I swear I'm going to kill that kid one of these days." He said softly.

"You keep speak like that and you go to jail my friend. He is muchacho pequeño. He can do nothing." Pasco said while pulling a cigarette out of his striped overcoat. It was tiny and smashed and looked as though he had either picked it off of the road (Which was possible.) Or had used it several times before. (It was hard to find time to buy new cigarettes on the road.)

"Yeah…well sometimes I wonder what goes on in that little monster's mind." Boris said softly. "Sometimes he acts too…clever…I hate that. Raf should lock that kid up somewhere."

"This is prison to him. You see how he escapes all the time. He es putrefacto (Rotten.) Children like that no can be locked up. Always find way out." Pasco smashed the stub, which had gotten too small to smoke and turned towards Boris.

"We deal with him in time. For now, do not trouble yourself." Boris sighed and put out the cigar, sticking it in his pocket for future use.

"I know. He's just a stupid kid. Still…it makes me uneasy…the way he looks at you…you know?"

For a moment Pasco looked amused.

"How he look at you, friend?"

Boris ignored the slight comedic edge to Pasco's voice.

"Like he knows what your thinking…like he isn't a bit afraid. Most kids are afraid of me…hell…most adults are afraid of me. Why isn't he afraid Pasco?"

Pasco laughed.

"He is stupid youth, Boris. Trust me. When he at wrong end of knife, he will be muy asustado." (Very frightened.) Boris grinned and joined his friend in quiet laughter.

XXX

_Side road, somewhere south of next destination._

_Small stone, probably a part of a cheap mood ring._

_It changed colors when I held it._

_It_ _won't change from black now…I don't_

_Know what that means._

Raz set aside the piece of paper and stared at the tiny stone, wondering, not for the first time if he'd ever get a chance to give Lili the hideous piece of jewelry. He had thought a couple times about running away…but every time this option occurred to him, reality would come back shortly after. It wasn't like Whispering Rock. He had no idea where Lili WAS at this time. What was he suppose to do? Search the whole world for her?

Raz touched the bracelet she made him absently…and wondered if she still had the one he had made her after the incident involving her father's kidnapping. More likely then not she had thrown it away…he wasn't particularly good at arts and crafts.

Raz grabbed his pen again and pulled out a new sheet of paper.

_Dear Lili,_

_I know it's been a while…_

_But I want you to know that I have been thinking about you._

_Every charm…or rock…or whatever on this necklace is from_

_A different place in the world I have visited._

_And in each place you have constantly been on my mind._

Raz sighed and crumpled up the piece of paper. While clutched in his glove, the letter burst into flame and was reduced to ash in seconds. He then rested his head against his hand. (The one without the burnt cinders still within the fabric.)

"I don't know why I'm writing to her…It's not like there's anywhere to send it." He said bitterly into the silence.

XXX

Lili was poking at her dinner in a distracted manner, while, beside her, Manny chatted excitedly. She wasn't paying much attention, but was nodding in all the right places and occasionally threw out random comments where they seemed necessary. She had just gotten out of an hour-long detention…and apparently had at least ten more to go…plus her parent and/or legal guardian would be notified. (That is, if the school board could reach them…she didn't think they could.)

"Plus I got fifteen stitches over the summer. Seven under my eye, five on my lip and another three on my big toe, which got cut SO deep that they almost had to remove it…so I am NEVER going on one of those mechanical grocery store rides again."

"Yeh…" Lili muttered absently.

Angus, who had spotted them from across the room, shuffled over (With Tessa walking slowly behind him as he did.) He sat down across from Lili and gave her a bright smile.

"Hey, Lili."

Lili nodded inattentively.

"Hey."

Manny, who had been perfectly comfortably about chatting endlessly a moment before, fell silent. He watched Tessa warily as she sat across from him and smiled lightly.

"Hey Manny, how ya been?"

"Fine." He said shyly.

Lili started to reach for her unopened soda, when Angus, trying desperately to get some sort of attention from her grabbed it and gave her what he thought was a striking grin.

"Let me get that for you." Lili, looked up at him, mostly out of the shock and slight annoyance that came along when someone grabbed something practically out from under one's fingers. Tessa also gave him an odd look as he started to attempt to open the bottle. After a moment when it wasn't happening, Angus began to feel a little silly.

"Eh…hehe…really stuck on there isn't it?" Tessa rolled her eyes. Lili, who was growing slightly impatient, started to reach for the bottle herself.

"Angus, just let me…"

The cap came off; with it came about a quarter of the soda in the bottle. Lili jerked back instinctively, but not before half of the liquid splashed on her sweater and on the arm that was outstretched.

For a moment Angus stared at her in horror. In that time (Which seemed as though it were a bit longer then it actually was.) He wanted desperately to slip into a crack in the floor…

"I'm so sorry!" He said, grabbing a napkin and standing up. As he did he knocked Lili's soda bottle over and spilled the rest of its contents onto her and Manny's lunch. While he picked it up, he nearly knocked her tray over into her lap, and would have, if Tessa hadn't reached out quickly and grabbed it.

Lili jumped out of her seat all the same. There was a giant stain on the front of her sweater, but she didn't seem all that concerned about it. What she was concerned about, as she pulled up her sleeve, was the smaller, but still perfectly audible stain on the tiny green bracelet she wore on her wrist. It was now half covered in coca cola.

She looked up at Angus darkly before narrowing her eyes and heading towards her dormitory.

Tessa exchanged a brief look with Manny before he picked up his cola soaked meal and headed towards the trashcan, grabbing Lili's tray as he passed it.

Angus' face had turned an embarrassing shade of red and it looked as if he were about to burst into tears. Tessa looked away and shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

After a moment, when Angus seemed to get control of himself, he sighed.

"Maybe I should…you know…apologize." He said softly. Tessa smiled humorlessly as she picked up her tray.

"Maybe you should leave her alone." Tessa said as she tossed the remains of her dinner into the trash.

XXX

Yay! I updated!

Ne ways…You'll have to tell me how this was. I'm kind of sick and therefore sort of out of it right now.

I'll update soon. I just started Christmas Break today, I'm sick, and I have no money! Therefore, I have PLENTY of time for writing. Wee!


	8. A Mental Stowaway

Chapter Eight:

A Mental Stowaway

It was around six o' clock in the morning when the Circus trailers moved out. Most of the Circus people were already awake, and had already gotten a head start on their drinking and smoking. Baroda and the bearded lady, who were among them, were sitting in the corner of one of the trailers playing cards. (They were forced to start over many times due to the fact that every time the trailer hit a bump the cards would go flying everywhere.)

The others were scattered about randomly trying to keep themselves as busy as they could while they waited to reach their next destination.

Raz, who had also been awakened when the trailers had pulled out that morning, was sitting on a wooden crate in one of the animal stalls waiting for one of the horses to finish eating so that he could move to the next. He wasn't particularly fond of the job…but it was certainly better then cleaning the stalls.

He had been offering to do a number of random jobs so that he might keep his eye on the other circus people without looking as if he was up to something suspicious. (Particularly to his father, who had caught him lurking about the night before and had ordered him to bed.)

He hadn't minded much. At the time he had been standing outside the magicians door 'listening' for any sort of suspicious happenings. (Since he had become a Psychonaut, Raz found that the most effective way of finding out about someone was to listen in on their most trusted conversations, these being the ones held with themselves. When you were a telepath it was very difficult for people to hide ANYTHING from you.)

After only fifteen minutes of this it became obvious that Mr. Twilight's only concerns were a missing cigar and a coffee stain on his favorite cloak. Raz decided that looking into his mind was a waste of time. Anyone who had threatened Ms. Fermi with a knife would probably be thinking of far more serious things then a stain or a half smoked cigar.

He had had similar luck with the others. He was beginning to suspect that Beth was indeed crazy when he fell upon a particular conversation that started with Boris Batiks flinging a knife at the wall about an inch away from Raz's nose.

His brain sent an immediate response to this shock, which told him, quite calmly to turn his head very slowly toward the thrower and to not give off any sign of being surprised. Unfortunately the rest of him had already fallen backwards off the crate after receiving the first signal, which had been a bit more frantic.

Raz cast an irritated look at Boris, who was issuing an annoying sound that crossed between laughing and coughing. After he untangled his legs and stood he set the box back up and turned towards the sound warily.

Behind Boris, two other men were observing the scene with less amusement. Pasco was on his right and was giving Raz an analyzing look that was slightly unsettling. On his left was Jamie Gore, who Raz knew as the odds and ends man who tended to do all of the dangerous work that no one else in the circus wished to do.

Jamie gave Boris a distasteful look before elbowing him sharply in the ribs. In response Boris wheezed and then gave the man a dirty look. After the noise subsided, Jamie stepped forward and swiped what was left of his hair out of…what was left of his eyes. (A majority of Jamie Gore's looks were considerably diminished due to the many burns and scars received in various…unfortunate mishaps.)

"We have access to this area now, little boy…run along." The man said in an unusually fruity voice.

Raz raised his brow and gave the trailer a quick glance before crossing his arms and giving the man a suspicious look.

"On what authority?"

"On your dads, you brat, now get lost!" Boris fingered another knife and glared at Raz ominously.

Jamie gave Boris a stern look before stepping forward.

"We're taking over your duties here, Razputin. You're dismissed." The man's one good eye was a crisp blue…and gave a person the uncomfortable feeling of penetration under its gaze.

Raz, who was eyeing the knife, still sticking out of the wall, with a kind of concentration, set the feeding stuff down and walked quietly towards the door. Boris stuck his foot out to trip him, but at the last minute was overcome by an intense burning feeling in his ankle and wound up accidentally kicking Pasco instead. Raz tried hard not to smile about that.

After he was outside the door he walked a couple steps into the connected trailer before ducking behind a crate and waiting until he heard the men settle themselves in the trailer beyond.

After a minute or two when he heard talking in hushed voices, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on focusing all of his mental energy into what he wanted to do next.

In the last two years Raz had tried to improve his mental abilities and learn as many new abilities as he could. Some of this…personal training he tried to keep to himself…mostly because both Sasha and Ford had sternly lectured him about certain dangerous areas of the mind.

So far he had made improvements in levitating ( He had mastered the levitation ball and was currently trying to levitate in a way that would allow him to move upward WITHOUT a giant fan underneath him.) telekinesis (He could now move at least one object around without too much difficulty and was working on lifting more then one object off the ground.) and telepathy. When it came down to it…he wasn't concerned about the telekinesis or the levitation…but the level of telepathy he was currently exploring made him uneasy.

Sasha, who was also a telepath, had told Raz that if you advanced the skill to a certain level you could use it to either drift around in a persons mind (without them knowing if you were good at it.) or even control a person. Mind control was something the Psychonauts were uncomfortable with. Too many times it had wound up being damaging to a persons mentality.

Right now Raz was attempting the first. The only person Raz had ever tried it on before was Agent Cruller…and he had caught him. (It was for this reason that Raz chose Ford for the experiment. If Sasha had caught him he would have been in A LOT more trouble. Also, Ford had followed him mentally throughout the entire time he was at Whispering Rock…so Raz figured he would be less against Raz trying to learn how.)

For a moment, Raz was beginning to think it wasn't going to work. Then, he felt a moment of disorientation before his body and Psyche disconnected.

XXXXX

There was a sensation of darkness as his mind searched for the most susceptible mental wave to attach to…then, after a moment where he got a brief glance at a winding madhouse that could only have been the inside of a very disturbed mind, he opened eyes that weren't actually there in a physical sense and looked into the face of Jamie Gore.

Beside him, Pasco appeared to be gazing at him attentively as his mouth opened against his will and began to speak in someone else's voice.

XXXXXX

Boris banged a glass bottle against the table before taking a deep swig and turning towards Pasco, who was giving him a very unusual look.

"What?" He asked, somewhat annoyed. He handed the bottle over. "Did you want some?"

"No. Let's just get started." The man said after a long pause.

"Fine…but I don't see why we gotta do this at six o' clock in the morning." Said Boris. He gave Jamie a dark look. Jamie smiled.

"Because…no one's alert this early. The work doesn't start till this afternoon. Besides…I want to make sure you two gentleman don't skirt out on our deal." Pasco sighed.

"We tell you, you get it, yes? Best for you if you lay off while we work."

Boris pulled out a package of tobacco and offered it to both gentlemen, who turned him down. He then shrugged and began chewing it himself.

"Still, I don't like trusting two men who steal useless stuff out from under people's noses and transpire against obese women who spend all of their spare change on carnival glass lamps and scented candles."

"We tell you that was mistake! That trailer belong to Rafael last week. He switch it without telling anyone. Fat woman is least of concerns." Pasco said bitterly.

"Yeah…and she surprised me. I didn't know the woman had such a sharp eye." Boris said after spitting loudly at a horse and laughing as it cowered at the corner of its stall.

"Or mind. It was hard enough altering tissue. I could not make her think she is dreaming." Said Pasco with a sigh.

Jamie frowned.

"I don't want to hear about your voodoo stuff. Now you said Raf was the one that Dr. Kay was looking for. You said HE matched the description. If you're sure then why isn't this operation moving quicker!"

Boris and Pasco shared an uncomfortable look.

"Umm…actually…I'm not so sure about that anymore." Boris said slowly. Beside him, there was a look of warning in Pasco's eyes. "He doesn't seem to be showing any…unusual behavior anymore.

For a moment Jamie gave Boris a look that quite possible could have splattered the man's brains on the far wall.

"You said he was Psychic." He said in a dangerously low voice.

Boris spat and cast Pasco a worried look.

"Well…he is…but…he hasn't showed any signs for…"

"For very long time." Pasco finished. "We think he just hiding, sir. We're sure he is the one." Pasco looked at Boris meaningful. "That what we think? Yes?"

Boris nodded quickly.

"Good." Jamie said, visibly relieved. "Because Garret has moved the deadline up by a month. We agreed that you two would take care of him…if you don't…there will be problems for you." Jamie stood and nodded at both men before exiting the trailer. Luckily for Raz, he moved in the opposite direction of his currently mindless body.

After he left Boris and Pasco sat in silence for a moment.

"We are sure Rafael is only Psychic here, yes?" Pasco said cautiously.

"Of course. The only other person likely to have any sort of Psychic ability is his son…and he's twelve…not exactly a threat there."

Pasco nodded with a half amused grin.

"Yes…we bring in twelve year old and Dr. Kay would hang us on wall by ankles. Still…we must get rid of brat before he warns his father of danger. You see how nosy brat is."

Boris nodded.

"Then, when the kid's gone and everyone forgets about this fat lady fiasco…we'll take Rafael to Dr. Kay and we'll be home free to do what we want." He said with a grin.

Boris looked up at Pasco, who was once again giving him an unsettling look.

"What?"

"What color your eyes?"

Boris gave him a funny look.

"Brown…why?"

"For a moment I swear they turn green." He shook his head and stood. "Come my friend. We must feed horses."

"Why the hell must we do that?" Boris said as he finished his beer.

"Because if we don't we look like we've been sitting in horse stall for twenty minutes doing nothing." Boris sighed and stood, swaying lightly as he felt a sense of sharp vertigo for an instant before it passed as soon as it came.

Back in the other trailer Raz opened his eyes…(his real eyes) and stood as he began to search the other connected trailers for his father.


	9. Lili's Fascination With The Circus

Chapter Nine:

Lili's Fascination With The Circus

Angus knocked nervously on Lili's door, casting a look at Tessa, who looked less then interested in the situation. Both of them stood in silence as they waited for someone to answer the door. During that period of time Angus noticed with dismay that his palms were sweating and that his face had reddened.

"Err…maybe she didn't go back to the room." He said quietly. Tessa stepped forward and tried the knob. It wouldn't budge. She sighed and began to search her pockets for the key to the room.

"Aww, hell." She knocked loudly on the door and yelled, causing Angus to flinch back from her a little.

"Hey is anyone in there?"

Down the hall, someone opened their door and glared out at her and Angus before slamming it shut again. Tessa stood back and crossed her arms.

From the inside of the room came the sound of someone unlocking the door. Zoe opened it up a slit and glared at Tessa through the crack.

"You know normal people use keys." She said bitterly.

"Forgot it. Is Lili in there?"

"No. He's not suppose to be here." She said, casting a dark look towards Angus who was nervously playing with his fingers.

"Well…did she stop by here?" Tessa asked, pointedly ignoring Zoe's statement. Zoe shrugged.

"Yea…for a second, then she muttered something about going outside…which I told her was against the rules past 6:00…she didn't listen."

Tessa sighed.

"Why don't you just apologize tomorrow Angus. You'll see her for sure in class."

Andus nodded, looking slightly troubled.

Zoe raised her brow.

"What'd you do to her?"

Tessa pushed past Zoe, who gave her a dirty look as she did.

"None of your business." Tessa muttered. "See you tomorrow Angus." Angus nodded and walked slowly down the hall, nearly running into a wall at least once due to his lack of attention.

Tessa rolled her eyes and shut the door.

"He's such a loser." Zoe said as Tessa threw herself down on her bed. Tessa chose to ignore her, although, even she admitted that Angus was at least the most _awkward_ person she'd ever met.

She had started to search for her CD player in the drawers in the dresser next to her bed, when her eyes fell on Lili's stuff, still unpacked on the bed across from her. She bit the inside of her lip and cast a quick look at Zoe, before standing and crossing over to Lili's belongings. Zoe looked up from a small pink book (probably a diary.) and wrinkled her nose.

"What are you doing?"

"Searching through Lili's stuff." She said quickly, as she rummaged through various articles of colorful clothes. Zoe made an almost inaudible 'hmpf' sound From across the room.

"I hope you don't do that to my stuff when I'm not around!" She said, while glaring at the back of Tessa's head.

Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, I have no interest in your stuff." She said. "I'm just trying to get an idea of what Lili would want for a Birthday present."

Zoe closed her diary and gave Tessa a critical look.

"Well you could just ask her, rather then digging through her belongings."

"If I _ask_ her she'll say something like 'It doesn't matter' or 'Don't bother, it's not important.' Or something like that." Tessa said as she pulled out a small calendar. She glimpsed at it briefly before tossing it over her shoulder onto Lili's bed.

After a few seconds Tessa paused and gave Zoe an irritated look, who had, apparently already forgotten her outburst at how inappropriate it was to search through someone's belongings, and was standing by Tessa's shoulder prodding at one of Lili's shirts.

She sighed and pulled out a small bag.

"Purse?" Zoe asked, now matching a small skirt with the shirt. Tessa watched her for a moment before snatching the stuff away from her.

"Hey!'

"Trust me…" Tessa said, as she put Lili's clothes back into the bag. "It wouldn't have fit."

"I wasn't matching it for me! I was just seeing if ANYTHING she has looks good together. If Lili would try a little harder she might actually succeed at looking nice."

Tessa rolled her eyes as she unzipped the bag.

"I _like_ the way she dresses." She said defensively.

"Oh yeah…this coming from the princess of darkness." Zoe said. "I think she dresses like a circus freak." She said as she picked up the calendar Tessa had cast away only moments before.

Tessa zipped the bag back up and sighed.

"Just school stuff…I'm starting to wonder if Lili has any interests." She put the small bag back into Lili's suitcase and closed it up after casting a few more articles of clothing back inside.

"Maybe she doesn't care about her birthday. She doesn't even write it down in her calendar." Zoe said, thumbing through the tiny calendar absently. Tessa grabbed the calendar from Zoe, who scowled and went back to her diary.

Tessa started to put the Calendar back into her bag, then, she spotted some writing and pulled it back out.

"What the hell?" She thumbed through a couple pages, reading all of the entries with a bemused look on her face.

Zoe raised her eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"She has…like days and locations marked…for…circuses." Tessa said, skipping a few months ahead.

"That's…weird." Zoe said, looking at the calendar distastefully. "Who would be interested in a bunch of freaks hopping around in tights…and it smells SO bad there."

Tessa chuckled humorlessly.

"Plenty of idiots like the circus…I've just never met a person so obsessed that they write the dates of every nearby circus in a calendar…especially someone who punched a kid in the face in the third grade for calling her a Freak."

Zoe shrugged.

"Well…she dresses like she belongs in the circus…"

"So what…you dress like you belong in a petting zoo…I dunno…I want to give Lili a good birthday…but if that means actually going TO the Circus…" She shivered. "With clowns and stuff…"

Zoe had made an offended sound when Tessa had insulted her clothes, but, in seeing that the other girl didn't notice, she let it go.

"I'm certainly not going to circus! That's _poor_ people entertainment."

Tessa considered this.

"Well…on the other hand…it might be worth it if you have to go…and maybe someone will fall…or a clown'll catch on fire or something. That'd be cool."

"Humph, I don't like Lili enough to go into one of those places, you can count me out." Zoe said as she buried herself back into her diary.

Tessa shook her head.

"Lili probably wouldn't like it that we knew about this…uh…circus fascination of hers, anyways. Maybe we should just get like…a cake…and flowers…I think she likes flowers." She put the calendar back into Lili's suitcase and went back to her bed.

"Wow…and I thought she was one of the normal ones." She said as she pulled out her headphones. For a moment she stared at the suitcase with the pause button pushed on her CD player. Then, she sighed and crossed back over to Lili's suitcase.

"I thought you were going to get her flowers." Zoe said, still staring at her diary.

"Yeah…but…you know…it doesn't hurt to at least _consider_ the circus." She said. She grabbed Lili's notebook and pulled out a piece of notebook paper. She then fished for a pen and began copying a couple of the names of different circuses onto the lines. She muttered stuff as she did.

"This one has a star beside it…this one's underlined." She went on like this until she got to the end of the next month.

"Hmm…this is weird. Most of the ones that are starred don't even come close to here."

"Probably her favorite…you know…with the biggest freaks."

"Ok fine…but then why are some of THESE crossed out. Look." She crossed over to Zoe's bed and pointed to a circus performing three days before Lili's birthday.

"This is the Aladdin Shrine Circus…which I've actually heard of. The location is set for only three miles away from the school…but she has it crossed out. And this one…the Twilight Circus…it's only five miles away, in three weeks…and I've never heard of it…but still…it's really close. Then she has this…the Bazaar Circus…it's circled, doesn't even perform again for three months, and doesn't even come within 300 miles of here or her house. It's like this with almost all of them…she has all the ones that travel a lot and aren't well known circled or starred…but any that sound even remotely familiar are crossed out. Look…like this one; the Aquato Circus…I've never heard of that. She has it circled three times." Zoe kneeled over and looked at the name.

"What's that written beside it?"

Tessa looked down.

"Looks like…_Raz _with a question mark next to it."

"What's that?"

"I dunno…" There was a sound associated with someone trying to open the door, and finding the knob wouldn't budge, which sent both girls in a state of panic often linked with the guilt of doing something you weren't suppose to.

Tessa threw Lili's calendar back into her open bag and jumped onto her bed when the door opened.

Lili walked in and eyed both girls oddly. (Which also brings up the subject of suspicion. That is, that far too often when someone is trying NOT to look distrustful, they focus WAY too hard on something else, which causes further suspicion, in this case being that 1. They don't acknowledge someone as they have just entered the door and 2. Are writing in their diary upside down. The same thing happens when a conversation suddenly stops when one enters the room…it's better to find something else to talk about REALLY quickly rather then to try to convince the person who has just entered to believe that you had been sitting there the whole time in silence. Oh…and this little blob proves that I read WAY too much Terry Pratchett.)

"Hey…" Lili said hesitantly. Both girls muttered an inaudible response in unison. Lili raised her brow and scanned the room suspiciously. Her eyes fell on her bag…which was open. Lili's eyes narrowed as she crossed over and began to shuffle through some of her stuff. It was all there…which was good…it wasn't all in the same place…which wasn't.

She watched Tessa for a moment, who was chewing gum, with her headphones on. The girl looked up, smiled briefly, and looked back down at her CD player, which she realized suddenly, wasn't on.

"You…were going through my stuff?" Lili asked, her face disconcertingly neutral.

"Uhh…" (Also a dead giveaway, mind you.) "I was just looking to see if you had a pen…so I could…you know…write stuff."

"Oh." Lili said. Her eyelashes fluttered a little. "You mean…like the one on the table beside you."

Tessa frowned.

"Yeah…like…that one."

Lili gave her a slightly annoyed look before pulling her stuff out of her suitcase.

"What are you doing?" Tessa asked a little nervously.

"Unpacking." Lili said quietly. "You can watch if you want." She added in a sarcastic tone. Tessa shared a look with Zoe before pulling her headphones off and looked down in embarrassment. After a moment, Zoe muttered something about going to the bathroom and left the room hurriedly, so as not to get caught up in any drama.

After a moment, when the silence between the both of them was almost too much to take, Tessa eyed Lili and then bit her lip.

"So uhh…I umm…noticed the Circus was coming into town…and umm…I was wondering if you'd go…if I got the tickets." She said quickly. Lili had paused, with her back turned to Tessa, after only an instant of hesitation; she pulled out her calendar and set it on the dresser by her bed.

"I hate the circus." She said quietly.

"You do?" Tessa said…momentarily taken aback. (Especially since she was looking at Lili's calendar from across the room.)

"Well…I'm not…really fond of it either, but…it might be…you know fun."

Lili turned and met Tessa's eyes.

"Nah…" She said after a moment. "Just a lot of freaks in tights and some guy who says he can make some girl levitate, but is only using really thin wires. I'm not interested."

Tessa frowned and stood up. Lili watched her as she crossed the room and stood in front of her calendar.

"Ok, I happened to come across this thing." She said, while motioning towards the calendar sitting in plain view on the dresser. "While I was…"

"Searching for a pen." Lili said sardonically.

"Yeah…right…and I couldn't help noticing that…there's a lot of…circus stuff in there." She waited, watching Lili's expression, which didn't change.

"Uh huh?" Lili said, making Tessa scowl.

"So I…put two and two together…" Tessa said, agitation edging into her voice. "And decided you must LIKE the circus."

"I don't." Lili said. Tessa watched her in disbelief for a moment.

"Oh." Was all she could think to say.

Lili sighed and flipped back to the current month on her calendar, then started to unpack again. Tessa sighed.

"Sorry I went through your stuff." She said finally. Lili looked up as she shoved a stack of shirts into the top drawer of her dresser. They were both silent for a moment, then Lili sighed and tossed her suitcase onto the floor.

"The summer before last I met this…friend at camp." She said. "He works for my dad sometimes. The rest of the time he travels around with a circus." She sat down on her bed and crossed her legs.

"Oh..." Tessa said, slightly taken aback. "So…you don't like the circus?"

"No." Tessa sagged with visible relief.

"Oh thank God. I thought I'd actually have to go to one for a second there."

Lili smiled sadly and started absently to play with the now stained bracelet around her wrist.

"I am sorry…it's not…I mean…I wasn't doing it to be nosy or anything. It's just…" Tessa seemed to think for a moment. "Your birthday…is coming up…and since you know…you always seem so bummed out around this time…I thought maybe there'd be SOMETHING that could cheer you up…but…I guess the circus isn't it, huh?"

Lili's smile broadened a little as she shook her head.

"I probably wouldn't even have gone out of gratitude." She said. Tessa laughed.

Tessa watched her play with her bracelet for a while before another; slightly bewildering thought filled her mind.

"So this friend…he's uh…he's not like Angus or Lester, or um…Manny huh?" She said carefully.

Lili shrugged, and, to Tessa's surprise, colored a little.

"Is the bracelet…?"

"Yeah…" Lili said while pulling her sleeve over it when she finally realized that she had been playing with it.

"Ah…definitely not like Angus or Lester or Manny then…if they gave you a bracelet you'd call it stupid and throw it away."

Lili's blush deepened a little. In seeing it, Tessa decided to find something interesting to look at on the floor. After a while Lili spoke again.

"If Lester gave me a bracelet I'd call it stupid, set it on fire, THEN throw it in the garbage."

They both shared an amused look, and then went back to their own thing when Zoe reentered the room.

Tessa watched her friend inconspicuously for a little while before turning her CD player on and lying back on her bed. While she was lounging and just before she fell into an odd dream, induced by falling asleep to gothic rock music, a thought kept entering her mind. The thought was, that maybe, just maybe, she had found SOMETHING to give her friend for her birthday…that was…if she ever figured out an achievable way to do so.

Wee I did it!…On the last day…but still…better late then never.

I hope it's all right…I think I was in an odd caffeine provoked mood when I started it.


	10. A Possible Lead

Chapter Ten:

A Possibly Lead?

Raz slammed the door to his trailer behind him. Across from him, the scenery whizzed past as the Circus wagons hurried shakily over the dusty streets that came from nowhere and led to nowhere of any importance. He took a step into his room, rubbing his temples and resisting the urge to fall forward onto his bed and sleep for the rest of the day.

Instead, he sat down at the crudely made desk and laid his head down, feeling the rough wood and possible would be splinters on the side of his face. He could do nothing about what he had heard a few moments ago until they reached their next location. Then, he would find his father and relay all that he had heard. He closed his eyes.

XXX

Lili opened her eyes; someone was poking her on the shoulder. Under her cheek she could feel the cool surface of one of the tables that surrounded the Science Lab. She looked up at Tessa, who raised her eyebrow in amusement.

"You were sleeping and talking to someone who wasn't there…I had to do something before you got loud enough to drain out the teachers lecture." Lili sat up, catching Angus's eyes as she did. He smiled a little nervously at her. He had been rather awkward all that morning due to the incident from the night before. She rubbed her eyes and turned towards the teacher, tuning into the lecture at about the moment it ended.

Beside her she could see Tessa picking up a pen and writing something on her worksheet. She looked down at it curiously as the other girl turned and began gathering up the materials they'd need for the lab.

_What's his name?_

Lili stared at it for a moment before picking up her own pen and writing on the other girl's worksheet.

After setting up a large beaker, Tessa stood and cast a look down at what the other girl had written.

_It doesn't matter._

She sighed and leaned over, her mouth an inch from Lili's ear.

"Come on…tell me." Lili frowned.

"Why? Why do you want to know?" She whispered back. Across from them Angus had finished writing his name down on his worksheet and was now glancing up at them out of curiosity.

"Because. Come on, just tell me!" Tessa countered. Lili sighed and wrote briefly on the margin of Tessa's worksheet.

_Raz_

"Oh hey, yeah…I saw that on the calendar." She said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Angus said, from across the table. Both of them looked up at him as though they just realized he was there and answered in unison.

"Nothing."

"Go away." (That one was Tessa.)

Angus frowned.

"Okay…I'll just get the stuff for our lab then." He said, looking back at them bemusedly as he headed towards the front of the classroom.

Taking advantage of his absence, Tessa leaned forward on the table.

"So which circus is his?" She said, speaking low enough so that no one else in the room would take notice of their conversation. Lili gave her a strange look…then shrugged.

"If I knew that I wouldn't write down the schedule of all of the circuses nearby." She said wearily. Tessa frowned.

"Oh…so…you don't even know where he is most of the time?"

"It never came up." She gave her friend a guarded look. "Why?"

"Just curious. Do you have an idea?" She realized that by now she sounded pretty suspicious…and was probably openly traveling beyond the borders of simple curiosity. Still…if she was going to get anywhere, she would have to have _something _to start with.

"Dunno…" Lili said, suspicion still showing on her face. "Somewhere that allows for young kids to work I suppose." Tessa let it go, but grudgingly. You never knew with circuses…especially the ones that were less eminent. In any case, Angus returned at that moment with the stuff, and she didn't really want to talk about any of this in front of him. Sometimes, even if you tried your best to ignore them, girlish intuitions still emerged. And she was having one that was telling her to leave Angus out of this situation as much as possible.

So they started on their project, doing most of the steps in silence for their own reasons.

XXX

After the bell rang Tessa made a quick excuse to go to the library and left the other two walking in silence towards their next class.

Occasionally Angus glanced briefly at his friend, his face growing redder and redder every time he did.

"Umm…Lili?" He said after a while, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at him with her somnolent green eyes, sending a mass of butterflies charging through his stomach. He swallowed.

"Uhh…I'm really sorry…you know…about yesterday." He said quietly. Lili's eyes fluttered for a moment as she paused before her next class.

"Sorry about what?" She asked without emotion. He had started to play with his sleeves.

"You know, about the bracelet." He said, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

"Oh." Lili said. She paused, seeming to think. After a while she shrugged and turned into the classroom. "It was just a dumb bracelet."

Angus watched her back in amazement. Once she vanished inside he let out a sigh and turned, wondering if Lili was the sort of person who could end up with anyone. And puzzling over, for perhaps the hundredth time what sort of thoughts and emotions went through her head.

_A guy would have to be able to read her. _He thought to himself. _And I can't even tell when she's happy or sad. _He shook his head and walked down the hall to his own class, wondering what sort of reaction he would get from her if she ever knew how he felt. He tried to imagine her smiling, or hugging him…or allowing him to kiss her, but each time his face would turn bright red and then the image would break up…because he couldn't imagine her doing anything but looking at him with her cynical, gloomy eyes and telling him that she wasn't interested. He reached the door to his pre Algebra class and headed in, feeling rather depressed.

XXX

Tessa was sitting at one of the computers in the rather extensive library at Demure looking up various circuses around the area. Behind her a couple of guys in cardigans were throwing erasers at her head. She had been able to ignore them at first…because they kept missing (Demure boys weren't well known for their athletic ability…except in various non-sports **Just because a school counts them as sports, does not make it so.** like bad mitten, golf and chess.) (And no…despite favorable clichés…Angus is not into chess.) Finally, when one rebounded off of her computer screen and landed in her lap she turned around and threw her chemistry book at them. It hit one of them in the face. The other one grabbed it and ran.

Tessa rolled her eyes and got back to what she was doing. So far she hadn't any luck. She kept typing in stuff like _Small Circuses, _but the search always seemed to come up with various animal rights groups (Circuses are NO fun for animals), Danish festivals…and this one Flea circus in Pittsburgh. Tessa sighed and pulled out her notebook, leafing through all of the pages until she found a folded up piece of paper with various names on it. (The ones she copied straight from Lili's calendar.)

"I guess I check them all." She said, and began typing in various names of circuses all over the country. As was to be expected of lesser entertainers, most of them showed up very rarely in searches. When they did, it was usually only mentioned slightly…or mentioned in show schedules or websites with a section labeled _Fun things to do with the whole family! _

Tessa rested her head on the keyboard (Sending a message of ghjg across the search bar.) and rubbed the side of her face where her temples had begun to ache.

"Umm…excuse me…are you planning to use that computer…or…you know…just lay on it." Tessa opened her eyes and moved her head slightly. Manny was standing next to her with a few library books tucked under his arm. "I kinda wanted to look something up." He said quietly. If it had been anyone else, both sentences probably would have been laced with sarcasm. Tessa sat up, moved over a chair, and then slammed her head back down onto the table.

"Ow." She said in a monotone voice. Manny sat down and backspaced over the nonsense on the search bar. Tessa heard the sound of typing on the computer and she looked up. _Crypto-zoology: Science & Speculation by Chad Arment_ He hit enter.

"Your into all of that chupacabra, loch monster stuff?" She asked dully. "Do you know those things don't exist?" Manny shrugged.

"There still interesting." He said, in barely a whisper. She sat up and looked at the books he had set aside on the table.

"Reincarnation, Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends, Spirits, Specters and other Spooks. Not bad…better then Zark trading cards anyway." Manny smiled weakly at her. He started searching down a list of books available in the library and clicked on the one he wanted. While he waited for the screen to load he looked down at the list beside the computer.

"My brothers going out Celeste City to see them perform tomorrow." He said while pointing at one of the Circuses on the list. Tessa looked down wearily.

"Celeste city? That's fifty miles from here isn't it…where do you live?"

"A long ways away. He likes them though. He's been a gymnast for almost fourteen years now and he says they have a kid there who's really good with acrobatics."

"Oh." Tessa said, gazing down at the name. "The Aquato Circus. Think it's worth it?"

"Not to put up with the clowns." He said, slight dread edging into his voice. "Not too mention I fell off of one of those gymnastic bars once and broke both my legs. I get squeamish when I watch people on tight ropes a hundred feet in the air."

Tessa sighed and leaned on one hand.

"Well me neither, I hate the circus and anywhere else with lots of people and noise and bright colors." Manny gave her an odd look.

"Then…why are you looking them up on the computer?" He asked quietly.

"I'm looking for some kid." She said, while rubbing her face in frustration. "He travels with the circus…but I don't know which one…and I don't know anything about him…aside from his name. He's friends with Lili and I'm trying to track him down so that they can see each other again." Manny watched her for a while.

"Is he are age?" He asked cautiously. Tessa shrugged.

"I assume…or very close…hopefully." She added uncomfortably. Manny started to rummage through his backpack. Tessa looked up and raised her brow.

"What are you doing?" She asked as Manny pulled out a folder and began searching through its contents.

"My brother sends me stuff from every place he visits. He got a flyer from the Aquato Circus the last time he went and I'm trying to find it."

"Why are you doing that?" She asked, aware that when you were desperately looking for something you NEVER found it…and if you did that it was never this easy.

"Because, it had the kids name on it. The acrobat." He said. "It was in a list of other attractions and stuff. You know…bearded ladies, magicians, stuff like that."

"It's not going to be the same kid." She paused for a moment, then, out of curiosity added; "How old is he anyway?"

"About twelve or thirteen I think. Real young. He was only ten the first time my brother saw him." He smiled as he pulled out a colorful poster and began to unfold it.

"Here it is, let's see, _Witness and be amazed at the mystifying enchantments of Godric Twilight as he makes his lovely assistant vanish into thin air, be stunned as Baroda van Darken, the strongest man in the world lifts over a thousand pounds of elephant using only his feet, sit back in awe as the worlds fattest lady swallows a watermelon whole _(Tessa raised her eyebrow at this point.) _And watch as the Flying Aquatos take to the sky, starring Rafael and his twelve-year-old son, Razputin as they perform amazing feats on the tight rope. Expect a night like no other at the Aquato Circus. _

He looked up.

"It is actually a lot better then it sounds." Tessa's eyebrow was still up.

"It sounds like a bunch of freaks in tights. Who lifts elephants with their feet?" Manny shrugged.

"My brother said that he was going to try to make the last night this time, because he said on the last night everything feels more real."

"What does he mean by that?" Tessa asked with little interest. She had taken the flyer from Manny and was examining the last couple lines.

"Dunno. He just said it was pretty amazing on the last night…juggling fire, no nets, real magic…stuff feels…less like a show, I guess."

"Razputin." Tessa said to herself, ignoring Manny. "So his friend's would probably call him Raz then, huh? Or something like that." Manny shrugged.

"Right guy?"

"Oddly enough…" Tessa answered, mostly to herself. "I think it is."

Violetwitch: I think I meant for Baroda to be either Scottish or Irish…I dunno…I heard the accent in my head, but I'm not sure what it was. Oh…and trust me…AngusxLili doesn't really thrill me either.

And as for all of you other peoples, don't worry, they WILL meet…I guarantee it. Unfortunately I got a little off track with the plot…so now I have to bring it back around and find a way for it to flow again…sigh…this was suppose to be a nice little short fic till I added in the action…o well.


	11. Dealing With Unecessary Details

Chapter 11:

Dealing With Unnecessary Details

Raz woke up when it was dark. For a moment he sat groggily, as he was not aware that he had even been sleeping. He had been sitting at his desk for what seemed to be at the most, four or five minutes, then, suddenly, the light had changed and there was silence from outside the window. The silence was unnerving. They had stopped. This meant they reached their destination. How long had they been there?

He got up from his chair and went to his door. As he stepped outside, the early autumn breeze brushed across his face and ruffled his hair. Up against the fading translucence of the distant city he saw people working to put up tents.

Twenty feet away from him Baroda was helping Godric with some of the more strenuous tasks, as the skinny man stood around with his assistant (Judging by the look on her face, Raz assumed there wasn't too much going on behind it.) yelling at the man every time he got something wrong…and not lifting a finger to help him in any way. Raz approached the man from behind.

"Hey Godric." He said. The man looked around and then fixed his eyes on Raz. He grunted in an impatient manner. "Have you seen my dad?"

"Yes, about forty minutes ago. Up further Baroda! You can't very well expect me to get my head in that!" Baroda tossed Godric an annoyed look as he continued to set up his tent.

"He was down by Maurice's the last I saw him, making sure Bruno's been fed…you know…so we don't have a repeat of what happened LAST month." Raz thanked him and jogged down towards the animal stalls, leaving the sound of the entire tent coming down on top of both Baroda and Godric as Godric's assistant screamed…and made no attempt to help, but rather made sure she was out of harms way and that…yes…her hair was safe.

Despite the urgency with which he searched for his father, Raz made sure his pace was slowed to nearly a crawl when he reached Boris's Wagon. When he got behind it, he went invisible and avoided the two men who were sitting and drinking on the step outside the door. Boris and Pasco tapped their beers together, seemingly in a fair mood, while their thoughts drifted and winded cruelly through their heads.

When he was out of their sight he threw his invisibility off and ran the rest way to clutter of various cages, lined up in front of a few men and woman and colorful clothing. His father was among them, talking to a short man with an ugly vest on.

"Dad." Raz said as he stopped in front of his father, nearly running into him. Raf turned and looked down at his son, surprised. "I need to talk to you." His father turned and said something quietly to the man, who nodded and began to inspect a cage with a lion in it a few feet away.

"Son, I'm very busy at the moment. We're running behind schedule and I have to help get this place ready by tomorrow morning. It'll have to wait."

"It can't!" Raz said urgently. "It's really important!" Rafael started to say something but was interrupted when the short man returned to his side.

"I don't think there's a chance he'll get out again. There'll be no law suits against us this time!" The man seemed pleased.

"Good, Maurice. Go check on Alice will you." (Alice is a very large elephant…just thought…you know…you should know.) "Now, Razputin. What were you saying?" Raz took a breath.

"I was listening in on a conversation and I found out about something. But I can't talk to you about it here." Rafael frowned.

"Oh…and does this have to do with the way you were listening?"

"Uh…maybe…but that doesn't matter! I found out about…" He stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. Rafael looked up into Jamie's smiling face as the man stepped forward.

"I hope you don't mind, Razputin. I must…take up some of your fathers time." Raz shook his shoulder out from the man's hand and scowled. "We need to discuss a situation."

"I do mind."

"Razputin. Run along, this'll only take a minute. We can talk out by the tight rope after you've changed into your leotard."

"But dad!"

"Mind your father, boy." Jamie gave him a hateful look. Raz glared back at him. "And mind your business."

"Why don't you mind yours you scamming pile of…"

"Enough Razputin! Go! We'll talk later!" Raz looked from his father, to Jamie and then turned unwillingly back towards his own trailer.

XXX

Jamie watched him go, a slightly troubled look on his face.

"It appears…" He said, turning back to Rafael. "As though Beth has had another breakdown. I was helping her out of her door, when she started raving about men with fire for eyes, who were throwing knives at her…" Rafael looked troubled.

"Great…" He said unenthusiastically. "I suppose Id better have a talk with her."

"I think…perhaps we should consider her mental health."

"Well…she doesn't really have to be sane to be in the circus." Jamie nodded, then motioned towards Beth's trailer. Raf, looking less than thrilled about dealing with her then, when he had so many other things to worry about, began to walk in that direction. Jamie smiled, and followed.

When they got to Boris's trailer, Jamie stopped briefly behind Raf to talk to the wiry Knife thrower, who was watching their progression with amusement. Raf, thinking the man was still following, continued on.

"Silence the boy." He whispered, while passing a tiny sack from the inner compartments of his coat over to the knife thrower's chewed through finger gloves. "A few drops should do it." He started to walk again, then, on a second thought, jerked back.

"Don't pass it on to him yourself."

And with that he continued on after Rafael, who had reached the large trailer with the _Fattest Woman In The World! _Sign on it, and was currently knocking lightly on the door.

Jamie smiled. It didn't take much to make someone seem insane. In moments Raf would find Beth Fermi in a huddled position in the corner of her trailer, with a story TWICE as ridiculous as the one she may have had before, and any question of any real peril would vanish in the acrobats mind. Even that little brat couldn't do anything.

Jamie frowned. Speaking of which…how the hell did that little brat over hear their conversation?

Jamie was brought out of his thoughts as Raf entered the wagon, telling Jamie something as he did.

"What?" Jamie said, all thoughts of Razputin leaving him.

"I told you that you should be practicing for tomorrow. I'll take care of Beth." Jamie smiled.

"Of course." He said as he turned and walked away. It was best if Beth did not see him again anyway. He would rather his appearance did not set off any specific reaction. He was able to fix it this time, what those two idiots managed to do…but next time he didn't think it would be so easy.

_'The sooner we have the Psychonaut the better.'_ He thought to himself. _'Then Dr. Kay will reward me and I can be done with those two idiot gypsy creeps.' _He pulled out a perfect white cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. The end, burst into flames as he walked through the various tents, looking at them through the smoke, and imagining, with pleasure that they were burning too. Lord, how he hated the circus.

XXX

Abena Disgleirio was about nineteen years old. (Trust me, I'm not getting off topic…not by too much anyways.) As a girl she had lived in a small house with an abusive father and a mother that was drunk more then she was sober. She had run away from home when she turned fifteen, had hitchhiked down to a small town where she had nearly gotten caught…but then didn't because the circus had been in town. It was easy sneaking into the circus and getting a job there…even when you were fifteen years old. Since then, she worked in a small leotard with a lot of cheap glitter on it, doing small odd jobs and occasionally larger jobs…and she hated it. But that was okay…because no one in the circus really liked themselves or their lives…that's why they were circus freaks.

One thing she did count herself lucky for, was that she didn't have to worry about running into many creeps like her father, or worrying about who was trustworthy in her life…because everyone was a creep and they were all untrustworthy…but that was okay too…because they thought the same thing of her. She was used to them…and had adapted nicely…and even liked many of them in her own way…and she imagined, in their own way…they felt the same.

Then…there were people like Boris Batiks. Compared to him, her father seemed like a clean and respectful man…who on occasion could get a little surly. Boris disgusted her. He was mean, greasy, and had teeth that made you want to brush your own for an hour after looking at them.

And so, it was only natural, that on this semi chilly evening, while she was helping a young man named Jesiper set up the food stands (That…for the record, even the circus people tried to avoid.) she was entirely dismayed with Boris walked up to her and motioned for her to speak with him in private.

She set down a box of stale popcorn (Probably left over from the last performance.) and followed him, feeling like she should take a shower just for standing within three feet of the man.

"What?" She asked, a little nervous. The man was holding a cup of tea and was stirring it periodically.

"Do me a favor, eh doll?" He said, while chewing on a piece of tobacco and spitting it off to the side. She shivered.

"Depends on what the favor is." She answered. He handed her the cup of tea.

"Raf told me to give this to his boy…only, I don't want to track the little creep down and I don't feel like spoiling this lovely evening with the sight of his face. Mind running over there and giving it to him?"

Abena looked at the tea before taking it carefully from his hands. (Making sure that at no point her hand came into contact with his.

"What is it?"

"'S herbal. Appears the little idiot's been all worked up over the fat ladies breakdown. Raf wants him calm for tomorrow. Thanks doll."

He spat again and walked away. Abena rolled her eyes and started towards Raz's trailer. She would take the twelve year old over Boris any day. The only thing wrong with him was that he was charming, likeable and about seven years too young. (That was the real problem…not the charming or likeable thing…she wished that there were men HER age that acted like Razputin Aquato.)

XXX

Raz had just finished changing into his leotard, and had fished through his drawers till he found his goggles, when there was a knock on his door. He slipped the goggles over his head, setting them on his forehead and sending his hair messily over them and pulled the door open cautiously, finding, to his relief, that it was only one of the young girls that worked at the circus.

"Hey Abena." He said as the older girl smiled at him and passed him the cup in her hands. "What's this?"

"From your dad. It's herbal tea." She said. She waved at Raz, who waved back and headed back towards Jesiper and the food stands. Raz closed the door and eyed the tea wearily.

"Great…he thinks I'm hysterical." He said as he set the tea down on his desk. He pulled out the chair and lowered into it, taking the box from the top shelf as he did. He opened it and gazed once more inside at the hideously made necklace. He felt a moment of miserable gloominess as he pulled it out and examined each piece thoughtfully.

His hand curled around the teacup, which was old and cracked slightly at the top and he brought the hot liquid to his lips. The tea burned his throat. (Not unlike Ginger tea, actually…and on a side note…don't buy ginger tea…it burns your throat.) Raz touched his throat absently and set the cup down, while fumbling for a piece of notebook paper in his drawer and a pencil to write with.

When the paper and pencil was in front of him he took a deep breath, another sip of tea (Oh you are hating me right now, yes?) and began to write.

_Lili,_

_I have no idea when you will get this…but I hope you will get it eventually. I don't know how yet…but I will find a way to send it…even if it means giving it to Sasha or Milla or your father the next time I see them. I wish I could see you in person…but at least this way you know that I am still thinking of you. And I am, all the time. I even made a present for you…but I'm almost positive you wont get it…and that might be okay…because it's really ugly. _

_Anyways…I…just…wa…ndsay…._

Raz sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, in front of him, the words on the page had begun to double and sway.

"What the hell?" He said, passing a hand in front of his face and watching as it left a trail as he lowered it to his lap. He shook his head violently, and then, in a sudden wave of vertigo, his hand wiped across the desk in his attempt to sturdy himself, knocking the teacup over and spilling its contents all over his letter. He watched it for a moment.

"Oh god." He said, before falling out of his chair onto the cold floor. Above him the room began to spin as the various colors intermingled with one another and then eventually all washed into black as he tumbled into a deep void.

XXX

For the record…I don't kill off main characters. I may kill off original characters in some stories…but not main characters…just thought…you know…youwould wantto know.

Violetwitch: Your not annoying me. I enjoy your reviews. Feedback from readers is one of the many things that motivate me to write.

Osuwarii: Are you aware that your review was nearly a page long! That must be the longest review I've ever gotten from anyone. Trust me tho, long reviews do not bother me. This one made my morning. I only wish I knew what to say and could leave reviews like this for other people.

Oraman Asturi: No…I wont ("I hope you don't make it to easy for Raz and Lilli to meet." From your last review) Trust me…long way to go.

To cartoonfreak101 and Oraman Asturi: (In response to your PM's) What makes either of you think I wasn't going to finish this? I'll take breaks but it's almost guaranteed that if I get past chapter one in a story I will finish it. Although, I'll warn you now in a month or so my updates will slow down immensely during Track season. Just be patient my lovelies you'll see the end.

Everyone else: I am aware that Tessa came across the circus' name WAY too quickly. But I already feel like this story has gotten off track and if I don't bring it back around soon it'll go on FOREVER. The sooner she knew the name and knew what to look for the sooner I could get things moving along. Although…I realize it's against common logic that anyone would come across that sort of luck. Normally what your looking for turns out being the very last thing you come across. There's still a long way to go though.

Wow…that author's response was too long.


	12. Tessa's Plan Raf's Suspicion

Chapter Twelve:

Tessa's Plan/ Rafael's Suspicion.

Lunchtime, and a nice day. The forecast called for rain later in the week, so it was best to enjoy it while it lasted. At Demure, there was a patio constructed directly by the double doors that entered into the institution, where, if the weather was ideal, many of the students dined in. It was well crafted, very expensive, and just a breath away from being indoors. Because so many students preferred to be in this safe haven (Because god forbid the wind should mess up their hair, or that their shoes get scuffed.) to the callous ground, the best place to be at lunchtime, if you wanted some privacy, was in the yard.

Manny was lying with his eyes shut, enjoying the sun, while nearby Lester and Tessa were arguing loudly over something.

"Why the hell would I want to go to the circus?" Lester said, a sort of half sneer on his face. "I hate the circus, a bunch of men in tights and stupid animals."

"I'm not asking you to _sit_ through it, I'm just asking you to go when Manny's brother picks us up." Tessa responded. "We're not staying, there isn't enough time for that."

"Well why would you want me to go?" He smiled. "Harboring a secret desire for me, Tess?" Tessa made a gagging sound in the back of her throat.

"Gawd no! It just happens to be my misfortune that you should be the only one who would possibly know how to sneak in if we have to, and get back without being robbed or anything." Tessa seemed to think for a moment. "I shouldn't even have to talk you into this, it'll basically involve cutting school for a day, driving for fifty miles and then taking Taxi cabs, busses, and whatever else we can get a hold of to get back _without _supervision. Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because you're asking me to go." He said, smiling. Tessa's eyes narrowed. "Why do you care so much anyway? What's the point of driving fifty miles out to a circus to meet some kid you don't know…and who might not even be there? Is Lili's birthday THAT important?"

Tessa sighed and bit into an apple. Behind them, Manny sat up and leaned against an oak tree. He watched them both for a moment before sighing and picking at the pedals of a nearby dandelion.

"It'd be nice to see her smile at least once." He said to no one in particular. Both Tessa and Lester looked at him. He blushed a little and pulled out one of the books he had checked out from the Library, before sitting back again and reading. Lester raised his brow.

"Are you like…a closet case Manny?" A moment after he said it a half eaten apple bounced off of his head.

"Hey, gross!" He said, picking a bit of apple out of his hair. "I just asked a question, jeez!" Tessa rolled her eyes.

"You're a jerk, Lester. And Manny's right, Lili deserves to be happy on her birthday." Lester chuckled gallingly.

"And you think this little circus freak will make her happy?"

"Sure." She said, her eyes flashing a little.

"The girl is miserable more then you are…and you're the Goth, and you think some boy in tights who hangs around with escaped criminals can make this girl smile?"

"Why not?" Tessa said, crossing her arms. Lester chuckled again.

"I guess he would be flexible…and he would have to be to put up with her." He said this while feigning engrossed fascination. "I guess it helps to not be around real girls much either."

Tessa stood up, her patience finally worn down.

"You know what, Lester, forget it…I really don't want to spend a whole day with you anyway. Come on Manny." Manny got up and followed her as she started back towards the building.

"Aww come on!" Lester cried after them. "I was just joking around!" She didn't answer, but kept walking.

He laughed and took a few bites of his sandwich…then…after a while he frowned, as it became apparent that they really weren't coming back and she had meant what she said about not wanting to have him with her. He stood, threw his sandwich away and ran after both of them.

Manny and Tessa were at the door that entered into the lunchroom when he caught up.

"Alright, I'll come!" He said bitterly. Tessa cast him a dark look and ignored him. "Tessa! Come on, don't you have a sense of humor?" She stopped.

"Your not funny, Lester. Everything you say makes me want to shove something down your throat." He grinned.

"Like your tongue?" There was a pause in which Tessa looked as though she were counting backwards.

"I hate you." She said after a moment. "And I changed my mind, I'd rather be robbed in a back alley or lost and murdered by psychopaths…at this point, rather then spending any willful time with you." She continued walking. Behind her Lester stuck his tongue out in a suggestive manner and winked at Manny, who looked slightly disgusted.

At a table on the far side of the cafeteria, Lili, Angus and Zoe were sitting by themselves. When their other three friends approached, Angus looked up and smiled.

"Hey, we were wondering where you guys were." He said brightly. Lester put his arm around Tessa, who shivered and ducked out of it immediately.

"We were making out." He said, ignoring the girl's reaction. Angus looked confused for a moment.

"All three of you?" Lester's eyebrows danced suggestively. Angus raised his brow and decided he didn't want to enquire any further.

After lunch Tessa pulled Angus aside, motioning for the other's to go on without them.

"I'm going somewhere with Manny and his brother tomorrow morning…to get something for Lili's birthday. You and Zoe need to keep her busy while we're gone, okay?"

Angus blinked, looking slightly curious.

"What are you getting her?" He asked, after looking towards their small group of friends to make sure that they couldn't overhear.

"Umm." Tessa bit her lip. "I just…found out where an old friend of her's is…look just don't tell okay? This might not work and I don't want Lili to get her hopes up."

Angus nodded, but inwardly wondered if it was possible to get Lili's hopes up. She didn't exactly seem like the hopeful sort.

"Okay…where are you going?"

"Uh…the circus…" She added quickly, "But don't tell her that either!"

"The…circus?" Angus looked bewildered for a moment, and was just about to ask Tessa what sort of friends Lili could possibly have in the circus, when Tessa, who seemed in a hurry (Mostly so she wouldn't have to answer any more of his questions.) quickly said goodbye and hurried off, leaving him by himself.

The bell rang.

"Oh…great." He said, and hurried off himself, untied shoelaces bouncing over his skinny ankles.

Tessa had was walking quickly until she got to the corner, where, she nearly ran into Lester who had his hands in his pockets and was smiling at her. She scowled and started to walk around him, but was brought to a halt when he grasped her wrist in his large nail bitten fingers.

"Lester, let go or I'll make sure you don't stand for a week!" Lester let go of her wrist, but followed her down the hall as she headed for her next class.

"So, when are we meeting Manny's brother?" He said deviously.

She stopped and glared at him.

"That isn't any of your business…because you AREN'T coming." He smiled.

"No? So I guess I'll be left here…distracting Lili with the dork." Tessa shrugged and started off again.

"Of course…" Lester said to her back…in the sort of voice one uses for blackmail. Tessa stopped and sighed to herself. "I might let some things slip out while your gone. Like…I might tell Lili…and this is purely by accident of course…where you and Manny went off to." He thought for a moment. "Course I wouldn't want to ruin her surprise…"

"You are a total jerk, you know that?" Tessa said. "Fine, we leave at eight o' clock." She started to walk again, before a thought came to her and she turned.

"Oh…right… be decent for once and don't mention this whole…Raz thing to Angus…okay?"

Lester raised his brow.

"Sure…although I don't know how much good it'll do. If you do find the little circus freak and he does show up…I mean…the dorks going to know sooner or later." Tessa thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah…but I'd rather it be later. Besides, this is Lili's birthday…which means…"

"Which means she can be happy, while he's miserable." Lester interrupted and grinned in slight amusement. Tessa bit her lip.

"He might…NOT have a crush on her…"

"Yeah right. But no sweat…I want to see this circus kid, it'll be interesting to see what turns Lili on."

"You're a pig."

He laughed and headed towards class.

XXX

Dawn and the tent had been set up for hours. Raf was pacing nervously and occasionally looking over his shoulder towards the trailers. At one point, Baroda walked by and Raf caught him by grabbing one of his immense arms.

"Have you seen Razputin in the last couple of hours?" He asked the muscular man, as, inside, people were beginning to get restless in the last hour before the show started. "I told him to meet me hours ago for training, but got a little sidetracked."

Baroda shrugged.

"Lawst I saw 'im he was looking fer ye." He said and headed into the large ornate tent. Raf sighed and started towards his son's trailer.

On his way he passed by the ticket booth, where Pasco was drinking out of a small bottle filled with whiskey. He spotted Raf and corked the bottle, then stood and made his way slowly towards a patch of shadows where a tall blonde man with a scarred face was standing and watching. (Not watching anything in particular per say…but rather, watching everything at once.) Beside him a woman was tending to a young man, who had burned himself on a set of flaming batons.

"¡Haga eso en alguna parte otro¡Usted está de la manera!" (Go do that somewhere else, you are in the way!) Pasco yelled at the woman in Spanish. She looked up, and dragging the young man with her, hurried away. (Not because she understood him…it's just the sort of thing one does when yelled at in a different language.)

"He goes for boy." Pasco then whispered to Jamie, who didn't give him the courtesy of looking at him and spoke out of the corner of his half demolished lips.

"It's taken care of. Boris put him in his bed. We will simply say he has fallen ill."

"How long can we say so, before boy wakes?"

"Most was spilled on his desk…I'd wager he took only a few sips of the blasted stuff. Not long…a day…or two…perhaps."

"So we're forced to work faster then expected?"

"We must take Rafael this evening, after the show is over." Jamie said. "We'll take him by surprise…and we shall be able to hand him over to Garret by morning…and then there shall be no more problems. Dr. Kay will get his Psychonaut."

"He seems so useless, yes? This man who goes in cover of circus?"

"Perhaps, but I don't question Alarick Kay's orders. He said that this one Psychonaut screwed up an operation that was in effect under his orders. He said it was almost single handedly. An R. Aquato. Pathetic as he may seem to us, he has induced a great deal of hatred in a very powerful man. Therefore…see that you and that idiot you call a partner take all of the caution necessary to bring him down." Jamie folded his hands behind his back and walked off gracefully, a stance that severely contrasted his horribly mangled façade.

Pasco uncorked his bottle again and began to drink.

"Very well, perhaps when this over, we wont have to look at ugly face of yours again." He chuckled and headed back towards the ticket booth, prepared to take his aggression out on visitors by contorting his accent as much as possible and giving small children a number of dirty looks. (Preferably until they cried…where after doing so, he would pretend to not understand the horrible language their parents used to scold him.)

XXX

Raf knocked on the door of his son's trailer, his brow creased with slight concern.

"Razputin, are you in there?" There was no answer. "Crap." He whispered afterwards. His first thought was that his son had taken off on one of his walks, as he often did, and would either be late in returning, or would manage to make it just in time to perform his act. Of course, any decent parent wouldn't just assume this, and would therefore do what Rafael did after calling on his son failed to work.

It was dark when he stepped into his son's trailer. He quickly reached out, and pulled on a chain hanging a little ways from the door. The trailer was illuminated slightly. The first thing he noticed was that the windows, usually left bare, was completely covered with old clothes. (apparently a makeshift curtain.) the second thing he noticed was that his son was in his bed, still fully clothed (well…yeah…of course he was…these men aren't total sickos…what I mean is that he wasn't in his Pj's.) but obviously in a rather deep slumber. Raf frowned.

"Razputin!" He said loudly, and shook the boy gently by the arm. He didn't respond, but rather just lay there…like he was unconscious…or dead. Raf's concern turned to fear and he shook the boy a little harder. "Wake up son!" He said. There was no response. He leaned closer to make sure he was in fact breathing and sighed in relief when he was. Still, he watched his son with a creased eyebrow. SOMETHING wasn't right.

"Found him passed out at his desk. His nerves I think." The voice came from the behind Raf. He turned and saw Boris standing in the doorway. "Panicking about something…whining about a ten foot man with red eyes…just knocked him out. He has a temperature…I think he was slightly delusional." Raf wasn't listening closely, for his mind had set on one detail and particular, which he was going over in his head.

"My son's nerves?" He whispered, mostly to himself…doubt lacing with his words. Boris apparently missed this.

"'S what I said. Don't worry about him, we don't need to him to do the show." Boris turned and skulked off towards the large tent, his lanky form mixing with the shadows. Rafael looked at his son again. The boy's eyes fluttered a little. (Though it could have been Raf's imagination.)

"My son's nerves?" He questioned again, this time, with no one there to listen. "Now why do I find that hard to believe?" He said, thinking about Razputin, and how, in every situation ever presented to him, he showed to be completely undaunted by his nerves. He raised his brow.

_Something wrong. _He thought as he stood. He'd do the show, then return to Raz. Until then he'd have someone else watch him periodically. Someone who wasn't Boris Batik's. Nerves? Yeah right.

XXX

Unfortunately, until I update again I have to update on two of my other, non-Psychonaut stories. (It's been months now and people are starting to complain.) Sadly enough, I have had the motivation for only Psychonaut related fictions…and have unwillingly neglected those non-psychonaut fans for WAY too long. It won't take too much time, and I'll probably work on Psychonaut stuff along with the other stuff. I'd give it at least a week though…but not much more.

I love you all! And be patient my lovelies!


	13. The Rage Of Alarick Kay

Chapter Thirteen:

The Rage of Alarick Kay.

Tessa slipped into a pair of black jeans as silently as she could, careful not to wake either Lili or Zoe as they slept. She grabbed a sweatshirt and a notebook from her drawer, and then, after squeezing into a pair of tennis shoes, which she didn't bother to tie, tiptoed across the room to the door.

She closed it as silently as she could, and slipped her key back into her pocket, before moving quietly down the hall. At the end of it, Manny and Lester were waiting and looking impatient. (Or, Lester was looking impatient…Manny appeared to be reading a book.)

"Jeez, Tess, what took you so long? I thought Freaky girls like you didn't take FIVE hours to dress." Tessa gave him a cold look.

"That was ten minutes at the most! Your ADD just makes you impatient!"

Manny sighed, but remained silent otherwise as the other two argued down the hallway.

By eight o' clock the sun had come up over the horizon, and, along with its light touch; it was about fifty-three degrees out. It seemed like a good start to a day, which would most likely end with a five mile walk back from a bus station.

Out front a rather nice car sat by the curb, while inside a skinny young man predictably in his early twenties appeared to be messing something in the glove department when the three kids walked up. Manny opened the passenger side door and smiled faintly at his brother, who returned his smile while accidentally dumping out a load of folded up maps onto the floor.

"Hey Thoran." Manny said as he sat down in the passenger seat. Tessa and Lester slipped into the back, Tessa nodding to the older boy a little uncomfortably and Lester… did not appear to care at all.

"This is Tessa and Lester. I told you I'd be bringing someone on the phone the other day."

Thoran turned around and gave them both a bright smile.

"Like the circus, do you?" He said in a pleasant voice.

"Uh…" Said Tessa.

"Queer." Said Lester. (Though it didn't sound much like queer after being slightly broken up by both the feigned cough Lester gave, and the nudge in the ribs which Tessa induced…and then the further coughing which came from the fake coughing matched with the nudge in the ribs.)

"Sure." Tessa finished while Lester coughed and rubbed at his chest. Thoran gave them both a puzzled smile before turning back to the road and pulling away from the school.

XXX

Throughout most of the evening, Rafael did his act without paying much attention to what he was doing. They had emitted parts of the performance due to difficulties, including Raz's sudden infirmity and the Fat ladies increasingly paranoid state. (She had refused to see reason earlier in the morning, and simply would not emerge from her trailer.) Therefore, the only acrobatics Rafael did were the standard ones. (His most impressive one being cartwheels down the tight rope.

After his act ended, he slid down the ladder and headed for the mouth of the tent.

XXX

Pasco closed one eye and examined the small item he held in the palm of his right hand. Beside him, Boris was sharpening one of his knives and occasionally looking at an old pocket watch he kept in the mangled cream-colored coat he wore. They were both sitting outside Raf's trailer impatiently awaiting the end of the show.

"Hey, where's Jamie?" Boris asked, while shoving his watch back into his coat (With god knows what else.)

"He somewhere talking with mad man, I assume." Pasco said, as he weighed the tiny item he was holding in his hand. "Show end in forty minutes…stand behind trailer will you with big thing to hit on head. We wish to catch him off guard."

Boris scoffed as he stood up, his knife disappearing somewhere within his worn out clothes.

"How the hell much good will that do us if he's psychic?" Boris said as he grabbed a large plank that had been resting at his side.

"We shall see, my friend." Pasco said while he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, while holding the tiny explosive against the distant lights of the circus tent. "We shall see."

XXX

It was always crowded for an hour or two after the show was over as people went to their various parking spots (Which were along the field surrounding the area.) and clogged the roads for miles and hours at a time. Someone else may have waited until it grew quiet and there were not so many people around…but Jamie reasoned that when that happened it would be a lot more likely for the other performers to observe Rafael's disappearance. So he set out to have Rafael tucked a way, far before things grew quiet enough to notice minute details.

He stood outside Razputin's trailer smoking a cigarette. Unlike the other two men, he carried nothing. But he had a slight advantage to them. For one thing, he was in front of the right trailer. (Although how right, even he didn't know…but what I mean is that he deduced that Raf would head to his son's trailer before heading to his own.) For another, he didn't _need _weapons.

He counted off fifteen minutes in his head (A patient man is a dangerous man indeed.) and then removed the cigarette from his lips and threw it to the grass, where he stepped on it with a leather boot, which looked much too finely made to be bought with a circus performers wages.

Raf emerged from his son's trailer looking troubled. Jamie, who was leaning against the wooden wall, did not try to conceal himself. He smiled, and when the man caught him out of the corner of his eye and turned, he moved with quick precision.

Rafael opened his mouth to say something (Probably on the lines of 'what are you doing here?' or 'Can I help you?') that turned into a cry of surprise when Jamie launched himself forward. Being an acrobat, Rafael moved easily out of the man's range, unfortunately what he needed to be was a psychic (Which he was.) with a powerful intuition for a thing to come and a quick response to an assault. (Which he did have…to a degree.)

Unfortunately, when one factored in the misty yellowish question mark shaped grenade that Jamie was suddenly wielding and the fact that Rafael, had unfortunately retired much of his powers to his son a couple years before (Some of it had come back…but not in a powerful percentage.) The man was severely outmatched.

He was hit with the smoke from the confusion grenade and stumbled, raving about something in the language of a drunken man. Jamie removed the boot from his right foot, and before Rafael could regain his coherency hit him heavily between the eyes. The man fell on his back, unconscious.

"Useless idiots…didn't need them at all." Jamie whispered to himself as he grabbed the man by his arms and pulled him along the grass towards his trailer.

XXX

Raz groaned while opening his hazy emerald eyes. Around him was a thick fog and darkness. He frowned and sat up, feeling as though his brain were going to drip out of his ears like stew. He looked up and saw a gypsy caravan, and for a moment was extremely confused. Then, as he recalled previous events, the setting began to fall into place.

"Oh." He said dully as he stood up, wading in the river of fog around the entrance to his mind. By the door of the caravan an oatmeal was making a buzzing sound and looking at him expectantly. He turned around and looked off into the darkness before sighing to himself and placing a fist on his hip.

"Great, how do I get out of here?" He looked towards the entrance to the bigger part of his mind, once overtaken with static. Now it was just dark. He shrugged and moved towards it, deciding that it couldn't be much father from the solution then standing in the fog and doing nothing was.

Raz had never been inside his actual mind. He had been in Coach Oleanders mind, which he had thought had been his actual mind, and a sort of warped version of both mixed together…but he had never been inside his REAL psyche. He walked into the gypsy caravan, which, apparently led to a really LONG hallway and continued along in a dreary mood as he passed hundreds and hundreds of circus posters.

XXX

For a moment, as he opened his eyes, he saw the world through what appeared to be a fogged glass. It was the sort of effect one expected to see in a movie, through the perspective of someone who had just regained consciousness.

At first, there was an echo of indeterminable voices, all of which slowly grew in volume. Rafael felt that his limbs were bound, and something was wrapped around his forehead, which ached bitterly.

"I'm not saying you couldn't have, gentlemen. I'm just saying that, when dealing with a psychic, one needs to be more prepared. There was a chance he would have come to you as well."

"Would have come eventually!" Came a voice set in a deep Spanish accent. "After checking on son."

"We were ready." Another voice said. By the time Rafael regained his complete consciousness, he more or less guessed who the voices belonged to. Once he regained his vision, however, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes, yes and I'm sure you would have done fine but…" Jamie paused, and then grinned as his eyes fell on Rafael, who was giving him a bemused and slightly aggravated look. "Ah…your awake. Excellent."

Pasco and Boris turned towards Rafael as well, looking slightly less enthusiastic. (And in Pasco's case, a little wary.)

"You sure cap works, Jamie?" He whispered to the scarred man, who smiled.

"Of course. I imagine you wonder what you are doing here, Mr. Aquato."

Rafael looked from face to face for a moment before scowling.

"Being interrogated by three ex employees?"

Jamie gave him the sort of amused smile that illustrated that he really wasn't amused in the least.

"I would take this seriously, Rafael. You are in a lot deeper then you know."

"Is that so?" He said in feigned curiosity. "I don't suppose you'll tell me _why_."

Jamie grinned and approached the bound Rafael menacingly.

"I don't suppose the name Garret Munroe rings a bell?"

Rafael was drawing a blank. He shrugged.

"Well…you can play dumb as much as you like…the result will be the same. Anyway, Garret is Dr. Alarick Kay's cousin. He was charged for murder, several cases of kidnap, stealing EXTREMELY valuable things from the government. He escaped from prison because the prison he was sent to, was owned by Dr. Kay…who needed him for a job."

Rafael watched him, wondering, to himself what the hell any of this had to do with him. He saw Jamie sigh, obviously not getting the reaction he desired.

"Garret was asked to kidnap a very valuable leader of a VERY valuable corporation. Alarick, who, besides owning his own prison, is extremely interested in the human mind and what makes it tick…and for years he's adopted…a hobby if you will. He creates things…destructive things for damaging certain areas of the mind. He's very fond of his hobby, Mr. Aquato."

"He sounds like a nut case." Rafael said passively. His headache was getting worse, and this, coupled with the fact of being bound up for whatever reason was beginning to seriously annoy him. Jamie smiled that dangerous smile again.

"Perhaps. That's what Mr. Zanotto thought too." This name hit home to Raf. He had heard THIS name. Truman Zanotto was the man in charge of the Psychonauts. He had never met him before…but he knew who he was through his son. His mind was working slowly because of the headache…but he became aware of a feeling that was creeping in.

Jamie seemed pleased at the hint of recognition.

"Yes…Truman Zanotto. He found out about Alarick's experiments and shut him down. He said they were… ' Far too dangerous,' the idiot seemed to think they were going to be used in some sort of…Psychic war device. As though…in all of his genius he had created a thing equivalent to the atom bomb!"

Raf frowned.

'Taking it a bit personally, aren't you?' He thought to himself, but kept his mouth closed. He smiled a little amusedly. Raz probably would have just let it slip out.

"So…completely offended! Alarick had Truman kidnapped…to see just how…destructive…his devices could be. But you know that…don't you." His usually passive face was contorted into something angry and dangerous.

"Pardon?" Raf said, realizing that Jamie's explanation had done nothing at all to enlighten him of why he was there.

"You ruined everything!" Jamie yelled suddenly. "Because of you, I have once again had to give up my dreams! Dreams and ideas that could have changed the WORLD! You ignorant fool! You Psychonauts couldn't even let me have my revenge!"

Several things hit home at once. The first however came in a maddening rush.

_They want Raz, not me! Oh god. _

He tried to not let this realization show, and rather, cleared his throat.

"Ah…that. So I guess I'm talking to Alarick Kay now, am I?" He said…aware that he would have to be very careful. He was very ignorant to the whole Psychonaut thing, and knew only the few things he knew from Raz. He had no recollection of these men.

Alarick pointed to Boris.

"Guard the door." He shouted. Boris, who was desperately confused, looked slightly relieved to be heading outside. "You…" Alarick pointed to Pasco. "Get my bag from the trunk over there."

The man who had, only moment before been called Jamie, spun around and gave Raf a thoroughly mad smile.

"If I cannot try my experiments on Truman himself, I will do the next best thing, and try them on the agent who thwarted my attempts at kidnapping and annihilating Truman Zanotto. And I wouldn't assume that you could try anything…clever, either. I designed that device on your head and so long as you're wearing it your psychic powers are useless."

To say he wasn't frightened wouldn't be entirely true. The thought of being experimented on with dangerous mind scrambling devices did not capture his fancy. However, at the moment he was thinking mainly of Raz, and how to save _him. _

"Out of curiosity…since I assume I'll be in a lot of agony in a few minutes. What have you done to my son?"

Alarick grinned.

"I sense your fear, Mr. Aquato. You need not pretend. But your worrying shall come later. I will not experiment on you here…but back where I have more…extensive resources. As for your son…not to worry…aside from being fatherless…he should wake up in twenty four hours…feeling just fine."

Raf smiled a little, but let it fade quickly.

_That is all I needed. _He thought as he lay back a little.

"Well…my head aches, so I'm going to rest my eyes." He said.

_Now…lets see how well this blasted cap works. _

XXX

Wow…I can see the end. I'll estimate another two, three…four chapters probably at the most and then this story should be over. (Course I could be wrong.) Thanx for the reviews my lovelies. Updates soon!


	14. A Mistake That Will Cost Them

Chapter Fourteen:

A Mistake That Will Cost Them

Raz stepped out of the hallway, examining the large and disconcerting circus that stretched out before him. To his right was a small booth with a mechanical gypsy sitting in it. There were posters everywhere. Raz sighed and sat on the edge of a circus wagon.

'Now what?' He thought to himself as he rested his chin in his palm.

XXX

It felt as though he was trying to reach through a solid wall…and he could only imagine how harder it would become after he actually came to his son's mind. He was having enough trouble as it was just reaching anything at all, without having to push through Raz's unyielding psyche.

His mind was beginning to ache with the effort as he slowly staggered through the darkness of the mental world. He could vaguely touch Boris and Pasco's mind as he went beyond his trailer and through the circus tents. He held out the mental fingers of his mind and touched the barrier of his own son's brain. If he could only hold on long enough to warn him, that would be enough.

XXX

Allarick frowned and looked down at Rafael. Boris, who had pulled the man's bag over to him leaned against the wall and watched him with apprehension.

"He's using mental power."

"But I thought you said…"

"Oh the hat works. He can't harm us, and the reach of his mind is limited. He's probably trying to contact the Psychonauts." Allarick didn't give off any sign that this alarmed him. Boris however shifted in discomfort and started to head towards the door.

"Send Pasco in here while your stepping out, will you Boris?" Allarick said without looking at him. Boris nodded distractedly as he hurried out the door and down the steps of the caravan.

When he was gone Allarick looked down at Rafael and smiled manically.

"Try as hard as you wish, Raf. There is no Psychonaut close enough to help you." It turned out, of course, that he was terribly wrong.

XXX

Raz was deep in thought when the Gypsy whirred into life, making him jump and look quickly in its direction. It stood erect for a few moments, staring blindly ahead of it before it started moving mechanically.

"What the hell?" Raz said as he stood and approached the motorized fortuneteller with caution. Its eyes flickered on and off a couple times before, like searchlights they fell on Raz. From somewhere in the machines delicate mechanics a few sparks spewed forth, and down at the bottom where, in a real circus a child or adult desiring a faulty prediction would feed the machine a quarter a long ribbon of white paper started to emerge.

Raz bent down, keeping his eyes on the plastic mystic as he did and ripped the long reel of paper from the machine. He backed away as the gypsy started to squirm in an odd way and pulled the piece of paper up to read it.

**XXXHelpXMustRegainConsciousness!XYOUAREINTROUBLE!XTheyAreKeepingMeCaptiveInMyTrailerXXXRAFAELX **

Raz read the piece of paper over a few times before his mind could process everything. In front of him the gypsy was emitting rivers of sparks due to the psychic interference with its system. Raz dove out of the way right before it blew to pieces.

A few seconds later he picked himself up, while gagging on the wretched smell of burnt plastic. He moved away from it and cast a concerned look towards the piece of paper again. All he was sure of was that his father was in trouble (And apparently, so was he.) and that he needed to find a way out of his mind before something really bad happened. He just didn't know how.

He was thinking about it when the smoke from the machine started to drift over towards him again.

"Agh!" Raz covered his nose and mouth. It was horrible…it was almost as bad as…

Raz's eyes widened a little as he began to check his pockets. Finally his fingers closed over a smooth oval shaped container. He pulled it out and examined it.

"Wow…never thought I'd be glad to see these again." He said to himself as held up the smelling salts and, while bearing himself, opened them a crack, enough so that the horrible smell engulfed him.

XXX

Raz came to with a start, nearly falling out of his bed as he did. He gazed at an old clock on a worn table beside him and found, much to his dismay that he had been out for almost seven hours. Without much hesitation, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood, feeling for a few brief seconds a rather nasty spell of vertigo, which nearly sent him to his knees. He shook his head and walked carefully to his closet, noticing that his legs and arms felt like rubber.

He threw his closet open and began searching for the nearest piece of clothing he could find (That was not his leotard.) What he found was his Psychonauts uniform, which was in the back of the closet behind something that looked like a large cut out from a tent side. He pulled his uniform out, along with his goggles, which were slung over the hanger and began to hurriedly put it on.

After he was suited and he had pulled his goggles over his eyes, Raz walked quietly over to the door and stood by it for a moment. He swept the outside of his Trailer briefly with his mind before opening the door and tiptoeing out. The circus was beginning to settle down…which led Raz to believe that the show had been over at least an hour ago.

Raz made sure that no one was nearby before turning invisible and then running towards his father's trailer.

XXX

As he reached the bottom step, Boris knocked the side of Pasco's boot with the board he was still carrying.

"What you want?" Pasco said as he turned to look at the knife thrower.

"Crazy in there wants to talk to you." Boris said as he sat on a wooden box with a picture of fireworks on it and pulled out a wrinkled cigarette pack. Pasco sighed and started to head inside.

"You keep watch while I gone." Pasco said drearily. Boris grunted in response as he lit up half a cigarette and pulled a tiny bottle of something that smelled foul out of his coat pocket. He inhaled deeply on the cigarette, then took a large swig of the foul smelling liquid, then, repeated this action two more times, before it was interrupted by the sound of a quiet footstep.

"Eh, who's there?" He questioned, and then cursed loudly when the cigarette, which had become quite small, burned his finger. He dropped it on the grass and then stomped it out quickly. (It was not wise to leave cigarette's burning when they were lying next to a box of fireworks.) After it was done he cursed again and took another drink of the amber green liquid in the tiny bottle. There was a faint sound a few feet away from him.

Boris set the bottle down lightly and looked around. There was nothing. He shrugged.

He looked down at the box and carefully kicked the cigarette away, before adjusting it (The box…not the cigarette.) to his comfort again. When he looked up Raz was standing right in front of him.

Boris let out a cry and fell backwards, tipping the large crate over with him when he did. His drink, which had been sitting on the box, slid off and broke against the edge. Boris was showered with the contents.

"Oh HELL, YOU LITTLE RUNT!" He screamed as he hoisted himself in a sitting position and extracted one of his throwing knives from his jacket. He pulled it up and threw his arm out to hurl it at Raz, but when his hand came out in front of him it was empty. Momentarily confused, he looked up and to his horror saw the knife floating in mid air above his head. It sat in the air shaking a little before reeling back and with the force of an invisible hand it was thrown at the side of the trailer, where it stuck.

Raz's face was screwed up in concentration. He put a gloved finger to his forehead, his eyes locked with Boris's.

"You…" Boris said, and that was all he got out before his pant leg burst into flames. He cried out, cursing at Raz as he did and slammed it rapidly on the ground. In a state of panic he slapped the fabric until the flames went out and felt a moment of complete relief before, to his terror, he saw as the fireworks box start to go up in flames. He screamed loudly and began to crawl away from it, tripping twice before he was able to stand and run. The box went off and the first firework went whizzing over his head. The second caught him in the back and hoisted him off his feet.

Luckily there was a large pile of elephant droppings to break his fall.

When the colorful explosion died down Raz removed his psychic shield and stood up straight again. He eyed the distant shape of the unconscious Boris in amusement for a moment before laughing softly.

"Right where you belong, Boris, in a great big pile of sh-." The trailer door opened. Raz just barely turned invisible as Pasco came through, looking around wildly.

"What the hell is going on, Boris?" He said as he descended the stairs. He looked down at the ruined splinters of the box in the middle of a large patch of scorched grass. "Boris?" He asked the silence. When he spotted the man fifteen or so feet away he rolled his eyes.

"How many times I tell you about cigarette!" He said as he started to approach the man. Behind him, Raz slipped into the open door without being seen.

XXX

Tessa was staring out the window with her forehead to the glass. They had run into traffic a while back (Thoran had said it was probably people coming back from the circus, since it officially opened that morning.) and they had now been sitting between cars for almost an hour…which was ridiculous, considering that the actual distance of Aquato circus was now only a few miles.

Tessa leaned over in her seat as Thoran moved a few feet down the road before coming to a stop again. She eyed the radio clock and sighed.

"At this rate we'll never get back to Demure before nightfall." She said dejectedly. Lester responded with a loud snore from beside her as she sat back in her seat as the heat, coupled by the droning sound of the radio began to lull her to sleep.

Tessa came out of a half doze when Thoran exclaimed something loudly.

"Wha?" She said in a drowsy voice.

"I said that it looks like someone's setting off fireworks." Thoran replied. Tessa sat up and looked out the window. Sure enough a spray of badly organized firecrackers were spewing up into the sky.

"In the middle of the day?" She said as she rubbed her eyes. "I wonder why."

"Dunno, hey were coming up to the ticket booth." They slid in next to a striped ticket booth that appeared to be empty.

"Hmm…odd. Normally they have someone here all day in case anyone wants last minute tickets. I guess we wait." He sat back and put the car into park, leaving the radio to drone on.

XXX

Allarick was leaning against the wall with an impatient look on his face. Rafael, who had "woken up" fifteen minutes before was leaning his head on the side of his bed. It had been several minutes since the fireworks had gone off.

"What is taking that idiot so long."

"You employed him." Raf responded bitterly. "Although, in the circumstances I wouldn't say my judgment has been much better." Allarick straightened and headed towards the door.

"Shut up." He said as he passed Raf. He glanced out. "Oh now where the hell have they gone?" He leaned out and spotted Pasco walking away. He was about to yell something when he was knocked heavily from behind. He tripped and fell onto the grass, then, in turning got a glimpse of Raf grinning as the trailer door slammed shut.

"Razputin!" Raf said as Raz barred the door and hurried towards him, rapidly removing his ties.

"Don't worry about them, I can get them if you get this thing off my head!" He yelled. Raz removed the cap. "Now hurry, get ready, he'll be back!" Just as he said this, the door blew open. Raz spun around as Allarick Kay stomped heavily into the room, looking livid.

"I swear you'll pay for that, Raf." He stopped, however, and for a moment, lost his edge, as he spotted Raz standing in a guarded position in front of him. Raz's eyes narrowed. Allarick's gaze fell from Raz's face to his uniform.

"It's you…" He said, as sick realization sank in. "But…you're only a kid…"

Allarick, though temporarily taken aback, regained his composer quickly, and with the intent to resolve his own mistake, quickly put two fingers to his forehead and sent a mind blast in Raz's direction. Raz ducked and punched forward, sending a large invisible fist in Allarick's midsection and lifting him off his feet. He fell out the open door and landed heavily on the grass.

Raf watched his son step towards the door as he worked to untangle his ropes with a series of very small psychic fires and light telekinesis.

"Careful Razputin." He yelled loudly as Raz disappeared through the door and then, in a quieter voice. "Go get him, son."

* * *

This would have been up three days ago, but this website (Have you ever noticed you can't say it's name in submitted documents...weird.) wasn't letting me upload documents, so, sorry for the delay. I'm on Spring Break...so, I should have more time to update...unfortunately, I'm also sick...so I'll be a little slower then I woud be if I...well...wasn't. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Updates soon! 


	15. Meeting Razputin

Chapter 15:

Meeting Razputin

Before Allarick could get up Raz sent a powerful mind blast in his direction. It caught him in the chest and he spun back onto the ground, cursing through spittle. Raz levitated in front of him, touching the grass lightly before pointing his hand, palm forward at the man in a threatening manner.

Allarick sat up slowly and glared at Raz through badly scarred eyes.

"You…BRAT! How the hell did you become a Psychonaut?" He threw his hand forward and grabbed Raz telekinetically before he could block him or get out of the way. Raz was lifted off the ground, as he struggled against the invisible arms.

"Do you know what you cost me boy?" He asked venomously. "You cost me my life's work. A little twerp like you ruined me!" Raz broke Allarick's hold on him, and landed heavily on his feet in front of him. He jumped out of the way when the older man sent a swift mind blast in his direction and then went invisible.

Allarick, suddenly left to himself, turned in circles, searching the grounds with both his eyes and mind. He tightened his jaw. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He wasn't _supposed_ to lose to a twelve year old kid.

He yelled as Raz kicked him from behind and staggered forward before turning furiously in the boy's direction.

_BURN!_ He thought and watched as everything around Raz burst into flames. He backed off, shielding his eyes against the blazing light. He only lowered it after the fire began to let up.

At the same time Raz let off his shield and, looking entirely serious punched forward just as the smoke was clearing. The air in front of him rushed forward, sending a dozen or so sparks flying outward along with a rush of smoke. Allarick wasn't there.

_Damn _Raz thought. He didn't turn around fast enough and received a stinging blow to his jaw as Allarick teleported behind him. Mentally, Raz reminded himself to start learning this trick as he hit the ground. He tasted blood.

Raz pulled himself up as Allarick stood over him; his eyes burning with malice as he prepared to do away with his young nemeses. He put his fingers to his temple.

"Say goodbye, Young Aquato." He said. Raz prepared to counter, but paused when he saw his father emerge from the trailer, ropes in hand. Raz smiled.

"See ya." He said quietly.

Allarick caught his expression and turned but was too late. He was bombarded with a confusion grenade. Through the haze he felt his arms and legs being bound quickly, then Raf said something and he experienced an immense and sudden blow to his skull.

After Allarick was bound and unconscious Raz and his father stood back.

"Ha!" Raf said with satisfaction. "You not the only one who can sneak up on someone and catch em off guard!"

"Damn fool." He said and turned towards Pasco just as he hurried back up to the trailer. Raz took a threatening stance as the man approached. The large Spanish man came to an abrupt halt and stared at both of them in wrathful confusion.

"What the hell you do?" He yelled as he stared down at Allarick in shocked incredulity. He looked up, took in the state of both Rafael and Razputin, and watched warily as shadows emerged in the background and other circus people began to assemble in the direction from which the ruckus came. He weighed his options, and looking slightly ill, held up his large hands in surrender.

XXX

Tessa rubbed her eyes in aggravation; after a few more minutes of bad radio music and impatience, she unlocked the back door and got out. Thoran turned in his seat to look at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, as Lester followed her lead and kicked out his own door. Manny blinked and looked up from the book he had been reading.

"We don't have time for this, I'm going to go find someone who can help us." She said as she shut her door and stood up, sharing a look with Lester.

Thoran rolled his window down.

"You can't just leave! I'm sure someone will be by soon…the ticket man is probably just out on a break or something."

Tessa looked at her watch.

"It's been at least an hour." She said. "I don't feel like waiting anymore." Thoran was about to make further protests when he turned suddenly as Manny's door opened and then slammed shut. The small boy joined Lester and Tessa as they headed up towards the circus grounds.

XXX

Outside Rafael's trailer Raz and a variety of other circus performers were standing around the bound figures of Pasco, Allarick and Boris (from him they kept their distance…due to the smell) waiting while the man made a call to the police on an emergency radio he kept for certain occasions. Raz and Rafael decided to send at least Boris and Pasco there. Allarick, they would send to the Psychonauts as soon as Raz got in contact with them.

Finally Raf emerged from the trailer.

"They're on their way." He said. "The rest of you can go if you like. The show, unfortunately will be cancelled tomorrow…and for the next couple of weeks until I can find replacements for these idiots."

There was general murmuring from the colorful crowd as they departed, none of them cared much if they were performing or not.

Raf watched them go and then motioned for Raz to depart as well.

"You should change out of your uniform." Raz looked down to find he was still wearing his Psychonauts attire. He nodded and started to head towards his trailer, stopping only to kick the side of Boris's boot.

Raf grinned after him, then, his face grew tired and he leaned against the side of the colorful circus wagon. He would keep watch on the prisoners until the police came and then he would sort out what he would do about the circus. He laid back on the wagon with a sigh waiting for the familiar sound of sirens to shake him from his thoughts.

What he heard instead was the sound of a branch snapping and whispering from the other side of the fence. Raf straightened and opened his eyes. He looked down at the prisoners, who were still bound (And in Allarick's case, still unconscious…anyways, Raf had placed the ugly hat on the man just in case.) When he saw that it was not any of them, he walked slowly around the trailer in time to see what appeared to be three kids, around his son's age, sneaking in through a hole in the fence. He felt the peculiar urge to laugh. In normal circumstances he would have probably have been more angry, but it had been an unusual day and these kids offered no threat compared to the three men tied up behind him.

He cleared his throat loudly, and watched contentedly as the three of them, one by one, slowly looked up and caught his eye. A muscular boy with dark hair shoved a much scrawnier boy out of his way in attempt to get back through the fence. The only girl of the group, however, stood carefully, ignoring both of them. Raf watched her as she approached him nervously.

"You need tickets to be in here…" He thought for a moment. "Which you can't get because my ticket man is going to jail in a few minutes…in any case the circus is closed for the rest of the week."

"Uh…actually…" The girls said slowly. "We're uh…looking for someone."

Raf raised his brow…no one ever came to the circus looking for someone…unless they were parents…looking for kids who, for some reason thought joining the circus would b a good idea. (But didn't count on the fact that they would probably wind up shoveling Elephant crap due to a lack of useful talent.)

"Who are you looking for?" He asked kindly.

"Um…a boy named Raz…er…I think he's here." She sounded uncertain. Rafael examined her curiously. Behind her, the small boy had squeezed through the fence and was brushing himself off. The larger boy appeared to be stuck.

"How do you know Razputin?" He asked after a moment's pause. Raz almost never left the circus, aside from a few occasions where he had wondered off for a few hours (Or the occasions when eh had run away to go to Whispering Rock) and therefore, didn't meet many kids his age.

"We're friends with someone who knows him." She replied. "So he is here? Can we talk to him?" Her eyes lit up eagerly. Raf sighed and peered quickly around the wagon to make sure the captives were still there. After, he eyed the girl again and then finally nodded.

"Alright." He said and motioned for her to follow. She smiled and did so, with the younger boy close at her heals and the larger one yelling after them as he squeezed himself out of the fence.

XXX

As they walked across the circus grounds Tessa caught sight of the various people drifting about the area and examined them awkwardly. The typical Circus Freaks were present. One middle-aged man with a long, sleek black mustache was brushing the hair of a tiny pony. A woman appeared to be clothed in snakes. Another man with a forked tongue and scales was smoking cigarettes (several of them) and playing cards with a man in brightly colored tights.

"So…" The tall red headed man in the shabby tights asked as they continued through the parade of freaks. "Who is this friend of yours who knows Raz?"

"Umm…her name is Lili." She answered. Some recollection formed on the man's face as he thought about the name.

"This wouldn't be…Lili Zanotto would it?" He said, seemingly satisfied as he recalled the last name. (After all, he had recently been accused of stopping a maniac from killing the girl's father) Tessa looked up at him, surprised…and pleased. It almost seemed impossible that she had actually found the right place.

"Yeah." She said, perhaps too eagerly.

"Ah…I see." He said. A thin smile appeared on his face.

They stopped in front of another wagon, slightly smaller then the first, brandished with a worn out looking greenish door, mostly shed of it's paint, and a small window with curtains that appeared to be made from the remains of a demolished tent.

The tall man ascended the three tiny steps and knocked carefully.

"Son, someone here to see you." He said, and got a muffled response from inside. Tessa blinked.

_Son?_

The older man stood back a little and waited. Tessa felt a peculiar onslaught of butterflies and willed it away as the door opened.

A boy about her age appeared in the doorway. He jumped the three stairs and eyed her curiously as he pulled a faded green jacket over his shoulders. Tessa couldn't help but smile, and she imagined that she looked like a complete idiot.

His façade was considerably different from the people one might meet at Demure, for starters, his clothes were a mess, and would probably be considered atrocious in the halls of their prim academy. He also had a wild mysterious air about him, a thing that probably came from living in the circus. He was tall and thin and had messy hair almost exactly the color of Lili's. His eyes were a brilliant emerald color and burned out over flushed cheeks. She had ever seen anyone more perfect for Lili in her entire life.

"Um…do I know you?" He asked, not unkindly. Out of the corner of her eye Tessa saw Manny and Lester approach.

"No…" She said. "We're friends of Lili's."

XXX

Sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update sooner next time. I hope this chapter turned out all right. Thanx for the reviews!


	16. Tessa Explains

Chapter 16:

Tessa Explains

"Lili?" Raz said, as though he must've heard wrong. Behind him, his father cleared his throat.

"I'll just uh, wait for the police." He said and left, grinning slightly.

"Yeah…" Tessa said cautiously. "Er…you do know her…I mean…don't you?" Raz's eyes widened a little and then he grinned.

"Of course I do." He said, happiness and excitement accompanying his words. "She's my girlfriend…or…at least…she was…I mean…" Raz scratched his head awkwardly. "I think she still is."

Lester raised his brow.

"Lili has a boyfriend. That's a scary thought." Tessa elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"I'm Tessa." She said warmly, ignoring Lester's breathless choking behind her. "This is Manny and the loser beside me is Lester. We go to school with Lili."

XXX

Lili was sitting outside under an oak tree reading. Dinner would be starting soon in the cafeteria but she was thinking of skipping it, either that or she would wait until she could slip in unnoticed to get a bite to eat. She didn't feel like dealing with people today.

"Hey Lili." Said a shaky voice beside her. Lili blinked and looked up into Angus's eternally apprehensive face. She sighed inwardly.

'So much for being alone.' She thought to herself as while fiddling awkwardly with his shirt he sat next to her.

"So…" He started. Lili's eyes narrowed wearily. He paused for a moment before deciding what to say next. "Like it out here do you?"

"Uh huh." Lili said dully as she read her book and hoped he would take the hint and leave.

"It's pretty…there's even a sunset over there." He said nervously.

"Usually." Lili responded without emotion.

"This tree is…nice for shade…" Angus winced. "Even if the sun is going down…I mean…it's a nice…"

"Did you want something?" Lili interrupted him, looking up from her book. Angus stared stupidly at her under the weight of her impatient gaze. After a few moments of this Lili rose her brow.

"I just wanted…to ask you…to dinner…" He lost his nerve. "Or er…if you wanted to go to the cafeteria with me…me and Zoe of course…the three of us…to eat…food." Lili sighed and shut her book.

"Yeah…I guess I might as well." She said dully and stood. Angus followed suit, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans as he did.

Inside the cafeteria Zoe was just sitting down when she saw Angus and Lili approaching. Lili sat across from her and set her book aside. Angus sat beside Lili and began to fidget, but this was no new thing.

"Hey Zoe." Lili said in a monotone voice. There was a long silence between all three of them before Zoe looked up at both Angus and Lili in an irate manner.

"Where are the others?" She asked. Lili looked up and shrugged.

"I don't know…I haven't seen any of them all day." Both girls looked at Angus who swallowed loudly.

"Uhh…they went somewhere." He said, while drumming his hands on the table. "Excuse me, I'm hungry." He said, his voice squeaking slightly as he got up and hurried to the kitchen.

"He is such a dork!" Zoe said, as though he were doing it on purpose just to annoy her. Lili looked up at her and for a moment she was subject to her harsh gaze. Lili could pierce flesh with her gaze.

"So are we." She said and then stood to get some food. Zoe opened her mouth to retort, and then shut it again and went back to eating. From behind her a boy with dark hair grabbed a muffin off her tray while walking by.

"Thanks fatty." He muttered.

He passed Angus on the way back and tripped him. The boy nearly lost his food, but was used to this by now and managed to save most of it, aside from half of his spaghetti, which splattered onto the floor.

Zoe turned and watched the boy disappear back into the accepted crowd as Angus came up beside her.

"You can have mine." Angus said kindly, as he gave her his muffin. "I'm not supposed to eat it anyways. I'm allergic to blueberries." He sat down again on the other side of the table. Zoe stared at the muffin.

XXX

"See her birthday's coming up in the next couple of days and her father usually plans to take her home during it." Tessa explained to Raz, who was sitting on his trailer steps and playing absentmindedly with his bracelet. He also noticed his heart beat had sped up considerably. "But he's always busy around this time and she winds up having to spend it at the Prep school we all go to."

"Which sucks." Lester said, while examining a fortune telling machine with a plastic man in a turban on inside. "Hey does this thing work?" He said, while nudging it and then rummaging through his pockets for a quarter.

"Anyways, we decided that this year, since it looked like things were going to be the same again, that we would throw her a birthday party ourselves…but we didn't know what she liked."

"She likes flowers…scented candles, reading…" Raz said, as he seemed to search his mind for all of the things he knew Lili liked.

"She likes you." Tessa interrupted. Raz fell silent, his face coloring slightly as he did. "We thought…maybe…you could come visit her?"

"Hey Tess, do you have a quarter?" Tessa narrowed her eyes and fished through her pockets before shoving a quarter into Lester's outstretched hand.

"Do you mind?" Lester asked Raz while motioning to the fortune telling machine.

"Knock yourself out, buddy." Raz said before turning his attention back onto Tessa. "I definitely would like to come visit her." He said, his voice betraying some of the excitement welling up inside. "I just have to ask my dad…" Tessa was looking hopeful now.

"Will he let you?"

Raz shrugged.

"It's not like we have a show or anything…three of our circus performers are going to the slammer and we wont have anything till they're replaced."

"It says I'll find love with a dark and mysterious woman." Lester said. Both Raz and Tessa looked towards him. "What do you think of that Tessa?" He said, making his eyebrows dance. Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Please, no dark and mysterious woman would fall in love with you unless she was blind and deaf too." Tessa said bitterly. Raz was shaking his head.

"That machine's been broken for months, it always says that." Lester deflated slightly and went over to hassle Manny who seemed to be examining his surroundings with interest, while keeping a plastic clown decoration under his close observation in case it decided to start moving.

"There you guys are!" All four children looked up towards the voice. Thoran was approaching looking rate. He was holding a small piece of paper which, Raz couldn't help but notice, had his father's name on it. "You can't just go wondering off…I'm responsible for you." His gaze fell on to Raz, who was giving him a strange look. The older boy brightened considerably.

"Hey, you Razputin Aquato! I've seen your moves, man, you're awesome!" He seemed to forget about the others. Tessa and Manny met each other's gaze. Manny shrugged.

"Uh thanks…" Raz said, as his arm was brutally shaken by the stranger.

"But seriously, I've been a gymnast for a while and I've been practicing to be as good as you are. You and your dad…wow." Raz finally managed to force his hand from the older boy's.

"Great…" He said while stretching the fingers of his gloved hand.

"Razputin." Raz turned towards his father who was being followed by two men in police uniforms. "The police wish to speak with you."

Raz nodded slightly.

Thoran motioned to the three kids.

"Come on, we're going home…and your lucky you three aren't the ones being arrested for sneaking into the circus. It was great meeting both of you!" Thoran said as he tried to shove the three kids towards the entrance where his car was sitting.

"Wait!" Tessa said and turned to Raz.

"What about Lili?" Raz turned to his father.

"Dad…"

"Not now Razputin, the police are waiting. Later." He said, while looking regretfully at the kids.

Raz looked desperately at Tessa and then a set expression washed across his façade.

"I'll be there." He shot towards her quietly before following his father.

Tessa, although not satisfied finally allowed Thoran to pull her in the right direction towards the car and Demure.

XXX

After the cops left with Pasco and Boris in tow, Rafael turned to their remaining prisoner just as Raz hit him heavily over the head with something.

"Razputin."

"He was waking up." Raz said and tossed the large board aside. Raf let it go.

"You should probably get in contact with the Psychonauts soon. We can't keep him here for much longer."

"Okay, but first can I talk to you about something?" Raz said, while playing with his bracelet. Rafael turned and gave his son an enquiring look.

"About your visitors by chance?"

"Yeah." Raz said and let his gloved hand drop to his side. "Um…see…Lili's birthday is coming up on the seventh…and…I really wanted to…see her." Rafael watched him for a moment. "A lot." Raz added.

"Well…" Rafael started. "The circus'll be closed for a little while…I guess it couldn't hurt…do you know where she is." Raz, who was looking hopeful deflated considerably.

"Oh god." He said. "I didn't ask. Dammit." Rafael looked sympathetic for a moment before, beside Raz, Allarick groaned. Without thought, the older man grabbed the cast aside board and hit him over the head again.

"We'll worry about this later, right now, you need to get into contact with the Psychonauts." Raz nodded, depressed. He took a few steps back to his trailer before his eyes widened as an idea crept across his brain.

XXX

It's short and I'm sorry but we're almost there! Wee! Ne ways I've had some really annoying and depressing stuff on my mind (Involving a jerk that I never want to see again) so I haven't been feeling very creative lately. I think I'm finally over it so I can write some more. I'll get back on this…my writers block is finally over as well…so hopefully I can finish this up soon and get you guys the last couple chapters. Thanx for the reviews!


	17. A Talk With Truman Zanotto

Chapter 17:

A Talk With Truman Zanotto

Sasha was sitting quietly in his laboratory, watching an experiment patiently as it bubbled in a dull way. Every once in a while he would turn to a small note pad and copy something down, before turning back to the beaker. Sasha reached forward and turned a knob. The flames underneath the substance grew and licked the glass.

Sasha, who was absorbed in his experiment, jumped a little when his cell phone rang. He opened his coat and reached into an inner pocket, locating his phone and peering at the number on the caller ID screen. It read; Out Of Area. Sasha flipped the phone open.

"Hello?" He asked as he turned the burner off, lighting a cigarette on the dying flames.

"Hello, Sasha?" There was a burst of static.

"Yes, who is this?" Sasha said, while inhaling deeply on his cigarette.

"It's Raz." Sasha stood up and levitated his cigarette a few inches from his face.

"Razputin? It's been a while, how have you been?"

"Fine, listen I don't have a lot of time to talk. I'm calling from a truck stop pay phone in Celeste City. Do you remember Garret Munroe?"

"Yes…of course. He's caused a lot of trouble for the Psychonauts a few years back. Not to mention he was also involved in Mr. Zanotto's kidnapping. Why?"

"Well, apparently his cousin was the one who hired him for the job in the first place. Do you know who Allarick Kay is?"

"The name…sounds familiar."

"Well…anyway, Mr. Zanotto would probably know it. Apparently he's some kind of weird psychic scientist. He had Mr. Zanotto kidnapped because he shut down Allarick's research because it was dangerous."

"This is the first I've heard of it. How did you find all of this out, Razputin?"

"Allarick Kay's been working in my circus for the last year now and he just tried to kill me." Both Sasha and Raz were silent for a moment. In the background Sasha could hear the sound of cutlery and muffled voices.

"Are you all right?" Sashaasked after a while.

"Of course, but listen, Allarick's tied up and unconscious right now and I need someone from the Psychonauts to pick him up."

Sasha nodded.

"Of course, I'll call headquarters and have them send someone right away…um…well done Razputin."

"Wait, I have one other favor to ask."

"What is it?" Sasha asked as he put his cigarette out and leaned back in his chair.

"I want to talk to Mr. Zanotto personally."

"Uh…he's quite busy…but I suppose I could give you the number to his office and…"

"No, I want to talk to him face to face." Sasha cleared his throat.

"That might be a bit difficult."

"Just tell him I want to talk to him…and that it's important. My current location is the Saddle Ranch bar in Celeste City…you can't miss it…the circus is parked out back."

"All right…I'll see what I can do. Goodbye Razputin."

"See ya Sasha." Sasha closed his cellphone, then opened it again and started to dial another number.

XXX

Lili was sitting on her bed doing her homework. Across the room, Zoe was writing in her diary. After writing a few things down on a piece of notebook paper, Lili slipped it into a large book and set it aside. She looked up at the time. It was Ten o' Clock. She hadn't seen Tessa, Lester or Manny all day…and she was starting to get suspicious.

As if she had read her mind, Zoe closed her diary and looked up at Lili. There was a bitter look on her face.

"I don't see why some people think it's okay to skip classes and sneak out during a school day. I wonder what they're up to." Lili kicked her book bag off of her bead and sat back against her pillow.

Sheshrugged andclosed her eyes.

It felt like fifteen seconds passed by, but when she opened her eyes the time was 12:30. She sat up. The lights were off and Zoe was snoring softly from the other side of the room. The handle on the door shook…and Lili assumed that it was a similar sound that disturbed her from her slumber. After a moment the door opened and Tessa squeezed in, shutting it softly behind her.

She started to inch across the room.

"Kind of late isn't it?" Tessa jumped and looked up at Lili guiltily.

"Ergh…uh…yeah…sorry, did I wake you?" She asked as she slipped her shoes off.

"Yes. Where were you?" Lili asked, her expression unchanging.

"Oh…just…hanging out with the guys…you know." Tessa said. She checked the time and uttered a quick (And fraudulent) yawn. "Wow, 12:30 already. Well, see you in the morning Lili." She said as she crawled into bed with all of her clothes on and turned away from the skeptical look in Lili's eyes. Lili watched her for a few minutes before she lay back down and fell asleep. She dreamed of the circus.

XXX

The Psychonauts worked fast and effectively. At around One in the morning they arrived at the circus and detained the criminal…who had very little to say in protest…but appeared to be suffering from numerous blows to the head. (He drooled a lot too…for the same reason)

A lot of the people who had still been at the truck stop came out to watch as a Jet landed next to the numerous circus tents. (It had been an interesting night for these people) Several men in green suits unloaded from the jet…assuring the curious prospectors that they were with the board of health. After they loaded the drooling and scarred man onto the jet, a couple of them went into the truck stop for some pie and coffee.

Raz was sitting outside the Truck stop on the curb, watching as all of this took place. He was in a pair of worn ripped jeans and an oversized army green jacket…trying not to look as though he were associated with the men from the jet or the circus people who had gone into the pub long ago and were getting drunk with enthusiasm.

Next to him was a cup of strong black coffee, which he had managed to purchase after breaking open the broken fortune telling machine. It tasted terrible…and he was drinking it only when he started to doze off. Vaguely he heard the sound of footsteps and then, in place of the concrete, which he had been staring at, while deep in thought, was a pair of polished black shoes. Raz looked up into Truman Zanotto's stern face and stood up quickly in salute.

Truman returned his salute and smiled a little.

"Agent Aquato. I trust your well?"

"Yes sir." Raz said as he lowered his hand.

"I understand you want to talk to me about something. Sasha said it was urgent. But before we get into it, I'd like to congratulate you for another job well done."

"Thank you sir. And yes, I did want to talk to you about something." Truman nodded, and happened to catch the eye of a rather heavyset man in a leather vest who was watching him while drinking something that was dribbling down his beard. Mr. Zanotto cleared his throat and nodded in a direction opposite of the Truck stop and the circus tents.

"Very well then, some privacy may be in order." Raz nodded and followed the older man.

"This is an emergency? I don't generally put important meetings on hold for one on one conversations with single agents."

"Not exactly an emergency." Raz said carefully. "But…important."

"All right then…what is it?"

"It's about Lili." Raz responded. Truman looked slightly confused for a moment.

"Is there something wrong with her…is she in trouble?" He asked, looking slightly concerned and suspicious at the same time.

"No sir. It's about her birthday, sir." Truman was silent for a moment…as his mind was taken suddenly off of business and into the realms of the personal.

"Am I to understand, Agent Aquato…that you've called me out of some very important meetings to discuss my daughters birthday? Is this at all business related?"

"Not really." Raz said with discomfort. Truman seemed to be debating something with himself.

"You see, I know it's coming up really soon…and…"

"Agent Aq…Razputin…I'm sorry. I appreciate what you've done for me…but I don't have time to fly out and talk to you about irrelevant matters. There are some very important men back at Psychonauts HQ who are waiting to talk with me about national conflicts…and I can't keep them waiting any longer to discuss personal things with you." He turned and started to go. Raz followed him.

"But sir, isn't your daughters birthday important?" Raz asked slightly taken aback. "Isn't her happiness more important then some stupid meeting?" Truman sighed and turned.

"Look, Raz, I am a very busy man. Lili understands that. She knows that I sometimes have to put my job before her. Maybe it's time that you learn to keep business and personal matters apart as well." He turned and started to walk towards the jet again. They were now, once more, in front of the Truck stop.

"How do you know she understands that? Have you ever asked her? Isn't important to put her in front of your job sometimes too?" Truman stopped suddenly and Raz almost ran into him. He turned. It was apparent that he was losing his patience.

"I know my daughter, all right? Just because you and my daughter hit it off at summer camp, doesn't mean that you know her more then I do. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir…it's just that…I think she'd like it if…for once…you'd see her on her birthday…like you say you will." Truman looked like he was about to say something, then, looked confused for a moment and shook his head.

"Wait…where is all of this coming from? How do you know about that? Did Lili say that?"

"No sir. Some of her friends from school came to visit me today to ask if I would visit her on her birthday to cheer her up. I haven't talked to her in over a year."

Truman stood up, still looking confused.

"Cheer her up?"

"Yeah…they said she got kind of down during this time because she had to spend her birthday at the school."

They were silent for a moment. Truman stared at the neon sign above the door into the truck stop. One of the letters flickered a little.

"I didn't know that…why didn't she tell me that?" He said to himself…then he sighed. "When would she have gotten a chance to?" He looked back down at Raz, who was watching him.

"Why did you want to talk to me? What do you want me to do about this?" Raz shrugged.

"Whatever you think should be done…you know…what's important…" He paused and added, "Oh…and I'd like to know the name of her school…because I forgot to ask her friends and I have no idea where she is." Truman thought for a long moment and shook his head.

"It wouldn't do you a bit of good…they'd never let you in…not dressed like that." He sighed and put his hands in his pocket as he cast the jet a weary look. One of the Psychonauts was standing outside of it, waiting for him to finish his conversation and climb aboard. He nodded to the man, who looked confused for a moment, then cautious, but eventually nodded back and shouted something at the people inside the jet. Raz watched as the doors closed and it began to fire up.

Truman pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number quickly. After a brief pause he began to speak.

"Good morning Sasha, I figured you'd still be up at this hour, how are the experiments going?" There was a pause. "Oh that's too bad…I'm sure it'll heal in no time though. Anyways I have a favor to ask you. Could you please wake Agent Vodello and ask her to swing by Demure Academy and pick up my daughter. No…no danger, just tell her to drop her...andher friends...I guess,off at my house. Then, after you do that could you please drive up to Celeste City. Me and Razputin are going to need a ride."

XXX

I'm still alive…I just thought you should know. Story's almost over. I'll try to update sooner…my mind, as of late has been preoccupied. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks, as always for the reviews.


	18. Lili's Gift

_I was thinking it's a sign that the freckles  
in our eyes are mirror images and when  
we kiss they're perfectly aligned  
and I have to speculate that god himself  
did make us into corresponding shapes like  
puzzle pieces from the clay  
and true, it may seem like a stretch, but  
its thoughts like this that catch my troubled  
head when you're away when I am missing  
you to death  
when you are out there on the road for  
several weeks of shows and when you scan  
the radio, I hope this song will guide you  
home _

they will see us waving from such great  
heights, "come down now," they'll say  
but everything looks perfect from far away,  
"come down now," but we'll stay...

_-The Postal Service "Such Great Heights" _

Chapter Eighteen:

Lili's Gift

Lester was asleep in his breakfast. Tessa poked him for the fifth time that morning in order to wake him. Her efforts were with little conviction, however, for she was rather tired herself.

Manny hadn't shown that morning, and Zoe reasoned that she would need at least another hour of beauty sleep because of the racket Tessa created the night before. Therefore, the loser's table was, for the most part, this morning, empty.

Angus sat across from Tessa, shuffling his Zark cards and occasionally picking one out and showing it to Lester, who was, in response, gave him a deadly look. (When he was awake anyways)

Lili sat down with her breakfast and nodded at her friends lethargically. Tessa poked Lester again, allowing her nail to dig into his side this time.

"Ow, Tessa, I wasn't asleep that time!" She ignored him. Instead she smiled at Lili, who looked down at her eggs (Which were runny) and her pancakes (Which were mostly batter…hell, even rich schools have bad food) and silently began to eat them.

Angus had gone red and carefully put his cards away.

"Happy birthday Lili." He said quietly, his face going up another shade of red. Lili looked up from her food and for a moment she looked as if she were counting inside her head.

"Oh…right." She said and went back to eating. Angus looked at Tessa, who shrugged.

They sat in silence for a while, before Tessa cleared her throat lightly. Only Angus gave her his attention. Lili continued to eat, and Lester was snoring loudly.

"So Lili…" She said, perhaps a little too loudly. "What do you want to do for your birthday?" Lili paused for a moment, a piece of egg hovering (Not literally, she knows better then to hover eggs at breakfast) a few inches from her mouth. Finally, she shrugged.

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, we could sneak out to town or something…maybe there's a movie theatre nearby…or…"

"Don't worry about it." Lili interrupted.

"Relax, it's no trouble at all!" Angus said, while touching her shoulder. (He blushed deeply as he did it)

Lili, without any apparent thought, shrugged his hand off and kept eating. Tessa gave Angus a pointed look, which he missed as he started to eat his own meal.

"_Will Lili Zanotto and…friends…please come to the West Wing Office?" _

A voice from the intercom cut through the persistent babble of the cafeteria. A couple of kids snickered. Tessa, Lili and Angus shared a look.

"Wonder what they want." Tessa said, a tremor of wariness in her voice.

"It had better not have anything to do with you guys skipping classes…" Lili said sharply. Tessa pointed to Lester, who was muttering something in his sleep.

"What about him, is he your friend?" Lili shrugged and stood up, with Angus on her heels. (He stepped on one accidentally, causing her to almost trip) Tessa shoved Lester, who almost fell off of his seat, then followed her in a cloud of confusion as she followed Lili and Angus.

XXX

In the office a woman with blonde hair, plastered so thinly on her head that she almost looked bald was looking at a man and woman suspiciously. The man, tall, with broad shoulders had messy black hair and stubble that suggested that he hadn't shaved (or showered…Sasha had been on the brink of a breakthrough in his research) in a while. Plus, he wouldn't take off his sunglasses…even after she had pointed out that the room was very comfortably lit.

And the woman was dressed like a hippie.

They had come into the office requesting for Lili. They said that they were going to bring her home on her father's wishes. The woman had started to explain why this could not be done. If strangers could just come in and take kids out of school, who knows what travesties could occur? Yet, to her annoyance they had a note with Truman's complicated signature on it, proof that they worked for him, and the man, who, by this point had begun to grow testy, had offered to call Truman so she could speak to him personally. Finally, she had to give in and give them what they wanted.

XXX

When Lili reached the office and saw Sasha and Milla, her eyebrows raised. Of course, she had seen them briefly over the summer. (They hadn't taught because Milla was working on recruiting new agents and Sasha had been wrapped up in his research.) Milla saw her and smiled, while tossing her fabulous hair behind one shoulder. (The lady at the desk watched her do this jealously.)

"Lili darling, so nice to see you!" She leaned down and gave Lili a hug.

"Hello Ms. Zanotto." Sasha said. None of the muscles in his face moved.

"Hey." Lili said hesitantly. "What are you guys doing here?" Behind her, her friends shuffled into the office.

"We're here to collect you on your father's orders." Sasha said stoically.

"Are you a secret agent?" Angus said as he stood near Lili. He was watching Sasha with something like awe.

"No." Sasha said.

"You look like one, with those neat sunglasses…people who wear sunglasses inside are always secret agents in my comic books."

Sasha gave him a look that many people had given him over the years and carefully ignored him.

"He wants to bring you home for your birthday." Lili's eyes widened a little, then they narrowed again with suspicion.

"He's never brought me home for my birthday before." She said.

"That's why were here darling, because he wanted you to come home and have a nice birthday."

Lili cast a quick look at her friends. Angus was smiling. Tessa was also smiling, but looked mildly uncomfortable at the same time. Lester was asleep on one of the office chairs.

"Is he going to be there?"

"Yes, he couldn't pick you up himself because he had stuff to take care of at the house."

Lili looked back and forth between both of them before her face evened out into something like surprise.

"Are these all of your friends darling?" Milla asked as her eyes swept over the other children. Lili shook her head.

"No…uh." She turned and looked at Tessa who kicked Lester in the ankle hard.

"Wsfg?" Lester said as he sat up in confusion.

"Come on, get up!" She turned back to Lili. "Me and Lester'll get Manny and Zoe." She grabbed Lester by the shirt and practically pulled him out the door.

"Well then" Sasha said after they left, "Let's get loaded up." He gave Angus one last peculiar look and left the office with Milla behind him.

"I guess things worked out." Angus said with a smile. "Are you excited?" Lili blinked and her eyes met his. When they did he felt his stomach do a somersault.

"Surprised actually. I bet he's not there." She said as she left, but there was a queer look in her eyes, as though she were trying to figure something out. Angus followed behind her.

"That scary guy just said he was going to be there. I'm sure he will."

Lili shrugged.

Angus swallowed. They were alone, she didn't seem to be in too bad of a mood…it was now or never, and so he decided it was time to give her her birthday present.

"Uh…Lili…?" He asked a little shakily. "Can I…uh…I mean I want to…give you something." He stuttered. For a second he didn't think that she had heard him, or that she was paying attention. He almost ran into her, however when she halted and turned towards him.

"Hum?"

"Y-your birthday present." He began to fumble through his pockets, but his hand was shaking, so when he finally found the tiny package he accidentally dropped it on the floor. He kneeled down and grabbed it quickly and handed it to her, blushing slightly.

Lili took the package from him, while smiling apathetically. She unwrapped it and held it up with that frozen look that come upon people who suddenly feel obligated to give praise for a gift that they are very unenthusiastic about.

"Er…"

"It's a friendship bracelet…because I ruined yours…I ordered it out of a catalogue a few days ago." He smiled broadly. Lili watched it spin lazily in her finger. It was much better crafted then the one Raz had given her…because…well…Raz had MADE the one he had given her. What kind of sad pathetic fool would order a friendship bracelet out of a magazine? It was pink…and there were little hearts on it…and secretly, Lili thought it was tacky…and the hearts made her uncomfortable.

"Uh…thanks…I'll um…put it on later." She pocketed it quickly and turned away from Angus who looked a little disappointed.

"Wait, Lili…I also…"

"Well, all taken care of!" Tessa interrupted loudly, as she had been nearby when Lili had opened the gift. "We can leave now. I got your bags, Lili…but…Angus, you'd better go get yours." Angus looked like he was about to say something, then, he closed his mouth and headed towards his room.

"So…your not going to set it on fire…are you?" Tessa asked slyly. Lili smiled a little.

"That was if Lester gave me a friendship bracelet…remember?" Tessa laughed and they headed off towards Milla's car.

XXX

When they were all together, and their bags were stuffed in the trunk, they began trying to come up with ways in which all eight of them were going to fit into the psychedelic car.

"This is ridiculous. Aren't you rich Lili? Couldn't you get a better car to carry us all in?" Zoe asked as she set one of her three bags down with a puff.

"Well…" Milla, who was much cooler about these things then Sasha was, spoke carefully. "I suppose four of you can fit in my car…excluding Sasha…if he wouldn't mind catching another ride. (Sasha gave her an annoyed look as she said this. She just smiled at him.) "But that still leaves two of you…"

"Don't you drive?" Angus asked Sasha, who's eyebrow twitched.

"I don't…currently own a car." Sasha replied dryly. "You can probably fit two of them in the front seat…and squeeze four in the back."

Milla looked at her car skeptically.

"Well…it's worth a try."

Just then, something caught Sasha's eye.

"Or…I could ride with you and three of them could ride in Mr. Zanotto's car." Sasha said as he pointed to a car that had just pulled up.

Milla turned to look at it and smiled.

"Excellent. Who will ride with me then?" She asked as one of Truman's drivers exited from the nice car now parked in front of the school.

In the end Lili decided to go with Sasha and Milla and Tessa and Angus came with her. It wasn't a difficult arrangement considering the luxury of Truman's car. Lili was more then ready to give up a seat in it, since she was used to it…and was also rather tired of it. Much to Angus's annoyance Tessa made sure she occupied the seat in between Lili and him. Soon both cars pulled out and they were on their way to Lili's house.

XXX

Several hours after they left the school, they managed to arrive at the Zanotto dwelling with little complication. Zoe, who had been stuck with Lester and Manny for the whole ride had complained quite a bit until Lester said something rather rude to her that shut her up. Manny had read the whole time.

In Milla's car things had gone a bit better, but this was only because no one was talking, except for Milla and occasionally Angus. When they arrived both Tessa and Angus leaned towards the window to get a look at Lili's house. Lili sat back in her chair, casting it only a quick glance before she grabbed her bag and opened the door the minute Milla stopped the car.

Tessa and Angus followed her excitedly.

XXX

Lili dragged her bag up to the front door of her rather large house and tried the knob only to find that the door was locked. She began to fumble through her possessions for her house key. Before she found it, however, the door opened. Lili looked up expecting a housekeeper, and instead found her father, who was smiling in a discomfiting way.

"Dad?" Her surprise was now unmasked. Part of her had been sure that he wouldn't be there. Well, there was still time for him to be called away on sudden, urgent business.

"Happy birthday Lili." Truman said. "These are your friends?" He nodded towards the other children, all of which had gathered behind her. For a moment Lili didn't say anything, then, she blinked and turned towards her companions.

"Uh, yeah. I…I thought you had work." Lili said as she turned back to her father who took her bag and beckoned her friends inside.

"Well…I do…but nothing so important as to miss my daughter's birthday." Lili gave him a strange look. "Well, better get this up to your room, Lili. There are two empty guest rooms for your friends. One of them is upstairs, third door to the left, past the bathroom. The other one is right over there." Truman pointed to an oak door, twenty feet in front of them. "When you guys are all settled in come on down for lunch. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to Sasha and Milla before they get back to work." He swept out the door, leaving the children standing in the entrance.

"Two guest rooms?" Tessa asked. "So what? Me and Zoë to one and Manny, Lester and Angus to another? How many beds in each room?" Lili came out of her thoughts.

"Two…but we have three guest rooms. There's another one down here, right at the end of the hall. I'm going to unpack, I'll show you where it is after I do." Tessa shrugged.

"We can manage."

"I want the room next to the bathroom." Lester said and hurried up the stairs before anyone else could claim it. Lili rolled her eyes and followed after him, as her room was upstairs as well. Tessa sighed and motioned towards the hall.

"So, do you guys want this one, or the one further down?" Tessa assumed that no one would claim a room with Lester in it. She was right. Both Manny and Angus weren't in a hurry to bunk with the boorish pre teen. "Go ahead and take this one."

"Ugh…but I don't want to walk any further." Zoe said as Tessa started down the hallway, ignoring her. They walked by several doors before they got to the end.

"It's probably this one." She tried the knob, but it wouldn't twist. "Hmm…it's locked."

"You've got to be kidding." Zoe said as she let her bags drop to the floor.

"Maybe someone's using it." Tessa said. "He did say there were two empty rooms…"

"Well, _we're _Lili's guests. So they'll just have to find somewhere else to sleep." Tessa protested frantically as Zoe hammered on the door. "Hey, get out this is OUR room!"

"Zoe! You don't even know who's in there!" Just then the knob turned and the door opened. Both girls turned towards it. Raz stood in the doorway looking confused and wet, a he had just gotten out of the shower and had finished dressing when Zoe had hammered on the door. When he saw Tessa, however, he recognized her and smiled. Tessa in exchange wore an almost comical look of surprise.

"You! What…how in the hell did you get here?"

"Mr. Zanotto drove me." Raz replied.

"But how…how did you get a hold of him." Raz shrugged.

"It's a long story."

"Hey!" Zoe interrupted in frustration. "What's going on? Who is this?" Tessa, who was now beaming, ignored her.

"Well this is great! Lili'll be so happy to see you!"

"Hello." Zoe said, annoyed that she was being ignored.

"Hey, what's going on, did you find the room or…" Angus and Manny reached the door at the end of the Hallway and stopped. Angus raised his eyebrow at the sight of the new stranger.

"Um…the room's occupied actually." Tessa said quickly. "You guys are done unpacking?"

"Nah, we just dropped are stuff off. Who's this?" Angus replied. He tilted his head slightly with interest.

Tessa turned back towards Raz.

"This is Raz, Lili's…friend. Raz this is Angus…you've met Manny."

"Hey, how's it going?" Raz said brightly, while raising his hand slightly. "Isn't an angus like a cow?"

"Hi." Angus returned, a bit uneasily. "Uh…I guess." He was used to comments like this…only…generally made by larger boys who tried to work it in as some sort of insult. Fortunately for him he had been born with a fast metabolism. It was hard to make cow jokes about a kid who was as skinny as Angus was.

"Hey!" Zoe said loudly. "Hello, standing right here!" Tessa sighed wearily.

"Oh yeah. This is Zoe." Raz nodded at her with a smile.

"What's up…nice hat…very…poofy." He was referring to a ridiculous pink thing that sprouted from the girl's head like some crazy pink molting animal.

XXX

Angus examined Raz in the same way that a scientist would observe some new threatening disease. Lili's friend? He had thought at first…or perhaps hoped that they were related.

The boy was tall…about as tall as Angus himself, and almost as skinny, although, the awkwardness that flowed from Angus was absent in Raz's case. In fact, he seemed to be pretty confident. He was wearing a pair of brown slacks and a turtleneck, which would have been nice enough, if it had not been for the oversized green jacket that looked as though it had been dragged in the dirt a couple times. It had some faded stitching on it, advertising some old circus. Angus found this a bit odd.

Tessa was talking. Angus tore his eyes off of Raz and gave her his attention.

"Well…I guess someone'll have to room with Lester after all. We didn't know this room was occupied." She was grinning and it was clear that she already liked Raz quite a bit. Angus couldn't see why. Hadn't they just met? Unless…

"Oh…your that friend from the circus that Tessa was going to see." He said, out of the blue. "I guess I didn't expect someone so…(male) normal looking." He finished. Honestly, he hadn't really expected much of anything. That conversation with Tessa had been forgotten since the day before.

"Sorry to disappoint you. If you want I could go put my tights on." Raz joked. He was smiling good-naturedly and Angus felt a twinge of irritation, which seemed to come out of nowhere. "They kind of make me look like a girl."

Angus blinked. He hadn't said male out loud had he? No…he was sure he didn't. This must just be a coincidence.

"Don't trouble yourself." He said, a little heavily. "I guess…I'll room with Lester."

"That means Manny'll have to room with you…if it's alright." Tessa said, while looking at Raz.

"No problem." Raz said with a smile. "Need any help moving your stuff?" Manny shook his head shyly and started back towards the other guest room.

"Come on Zoe, let's go back to the other guest room. See you in a bit, Raz…oh and if you could, don't leave your room just yet."

"Huh why…oh…right…where is she?" Angus couldn't help but notice that the boys face colored a little as he asked. He felt a sudden burst of jealousy.

"Upstairs in her room…unpacking. Just stay in your room for now, okay?" Raz nodded and went back into the guest room as Tessa, Angus and Zoe headed back up the hall.

XXX

"Hey." Lili reached the bottom of the stairs shortly after Tessa and Zoe had finished unpacking. She had passed Angus on the way down. He had had a strange look about him.

"Hey Lili." Tessa said. She looked as if she were trying to suppress a smile.

"Did you guys find the guest room alright?" At this moment Lester headed down the stairs as well.

"Uhuh."

"Then why's Angus moving into my room." Lester asked darkly.

"Because. Did your dad say something about lunch?"

Lili nodded and started in the direction of the kitchen. Zoe followed. Tessa purposefully fell a step behind and grabbed Lester gruffly by the arm.

"Jeez, Tess…what the hell?"

"Raz is here."

"Who?" Tessa sighed.

"God your stupid. Raz…we saw him yesterday…at the circus."

"Oh yeah. What about him?"

"He's here!" Tessa said a bit loudly as she lost her temper. "Angus is rooming with you because he has the other guest room. Don't mention it or him again okay?"

"Fine…you don't need to shout. When are you gonna spring him on her?"

"I don't know…soon…I don't want to make him wait inside his room forever."

"So say you've got a surprise for her and do it now." When they reached the kitchen Lili and Zoe were already sitting. Truman was standing in the doorway with Sasha and Milla. When Lili and Zoe had entered, their conversation had dropped slightly. Now it stopped.

"These all your friends Lili?"

"No…Angus and Manny aren't here." Lili said.

"Well, we'll give them a few minutes. Would you like to stay for lunch Sasha…Milla?"

"Sure, why not."

"We're terribly busy." They answered at the same time. Sasha and Milla exchanged a look.

"I have some important tests to run." Sasha said sternly.

"Yes darling, but perhaps an evening not spent burning yourself would do you some good." Sasha started to protest.

"Now come on, Sasha…I'm sure it can wait." Truman said. Lili was looking at him strangely.

"Well…I suppose I could spare a few hours." Sasha said in the tones of someone who knew that even if he continued to protest he would lose in the end. Milla was his ride after all.

After they had all sat down and Truman gave the cook orders to lie out the food, they spent the next moment in an awkward silence.

"How old are you Lili, darling?" Milla asked, always eager to break up such moments.

"Twelve." Lili answered.

"Oh, you're getting so big, sweetheart." Milla said in sugary tones. Sasha lit a cigarette and was currently smoking it in silence.

"Yuck…that smell is awful." Zoe said, while exaggerating a cough. Sasha sighed and put the cigarette out.

Truman cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So…Lili…how are things at school?" Lili shrugged.

"Alright." She answered.

"Staying out of trouble, I assume?"

"I got detention for beating up the quarterback of our football team." She said impassively.

"You…" Truman started, taken aback. He was silent for a moment. "Not…you know." He touched his temple briefly.

"No…" Lili replied without looking at him.

"Oh…well…he's alright though?"

"Yeah he'll probably play football again in a month or so."

Tessa and Lester exchanged a perplexed look. That wasn't how it would have gone at their houses.

"You may want to see if your friends are lost, Lils."

"I've got it." Tessa said quickly and stood. "I'm sure their just still unpacking." She hurried out of the kitchen before Lili could leave her chair.

"So…" Lili said slowly, while turning towards her father. "How long am I staying?"

"I was thinking for a week, actually." Truman replied. Lili raised her eyebrows.

"Are you going to be here or…"

"I've already cleared my schedule."

"Really?" Lili asked, her voice uncertain.

"Yep…our guests can stay as well." Truman added quickly; "Of course Sasha and Milla probably have tons of work to do, so I won't keep them past lunch." Sasha relaxed.

"We're here." Tessa said as she re-entered a moment later. This time Angus and Manny were with her. Tessa made a quick decision.

"Be right back though

. I have to get your gift." Lili raised her brow as Tessa left the room again in a hurry. Angus took Tessa's seat beside Lili and cast Sasha and Milla a brief observational glance.

"If any of your friends have to return early, I'll understand. In fact, I would like all of you to call your parents so they know where you are…and ask them permission, if you intend to stay for the rest of the week."

"The whole week?" Angus asked, surprised.

"If you like." Truman replied.

"That'd be great." He squeaked, a little over excited at the thought of spending a week in Lili's house. "By the way," He said, deepening his voice slightly. "It's nice to meet you sir and I really appreciate your kindness."

Truman nodded and looked up at the door when Tessa reentered.

"Kay…back." She said. "Did I miss anything?"

"We get to stay a whole week." Angus said, with a smile. Lili had given him a few rather odd looks at this point, all of which he had missed.

"Of course…" Truman said, while casting a brief look in the direction of the kitchens. "I'm not sure how long our other guest can stay."

"Other guest?" Lili asked as someone put their hands over her eyes.

XXX

If it hadn't been for Lili's friends, Raz would have just gone invisible…instead; he snuck into the dining room through the kitchen, much to the cook's annoyance. Only Manny, Tessa, Truman and Sasha had noticed him, as everyone else had been facing the other direction.

Lili was hit by a brief moment of confusion, followed by a long period of annoyance.

"Who's doing that?" She asked contemptuously as she grabbed a hold of the gloved hands and pulled them off of her eyes. "If it's you Lester I swear to God…" She turned and stopped, still holding onto Raz's hands as she met his bright green eyes. Beside her, Angus was watching with mounting dismay.

"Your wrong, but I'll give you another guess because it's your birthday." Raz said as he scanned her face, as well as her mind, almost habitually.

"Raz…" Lili said breathlessly. For a moment she stared at him with wide eyes, then, suddenly she stood up and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking both her chair and him over in the process. "Oh my god!"

Raz laughed squeakily and returned her embrace, taking in her scent as he did. It had been so long! She was kind of cutting off his air…but he almost didn't mind. After nearly a year and a half spent on the road thinking about her, he was content at just standing and holding her…even if he couldn't breath as he was doing it. Still, since they were in company…and his head was starting to swim, Raz did eventually pull away.

"What are you doing here?" Lili asked, her eyes vivid with delight. Her face was also flushed and Raz couldn't help but notice that it made her look very pretty.

"Your friends came to visit me at the circus and said it was your birthday…then I caught a ride over here with your dad after he came to pick up these three guys I beat up…" Lili raised her eyebrow at Tessa, who gave her a childlike look of innocence in return.

XXX

Angus's face had gone red. His stomach felt sour as he watched Lili and Raz jealously. Finally, they stopped touching and Raz sat down next to Lili (she grabbed one of the empty chairs and squeezed it in between her and Angus…much to Angus's disappointment.)

"So what's it like living in a circus?" Lester asked after the cook put the food down and everyone had begun to eat. "Do you have to go to school?"

"Nah…I mean…I'm tutored…but we haven't ever stopped in any town long enough for me to go to school." Raz answered. Angus picked at his food and occasionally looked up at Lili, noting the way she kept looking at Raz…and the way he would occasionally look at her.

"I bet that's great." Lester said dreamily as he thought of what life would be like without school. Raz shrugged.

"Not really…you actually get really sick of it after a while."

"What do you do there?" Tessa asked. Angus met her eyes briefly. She looked a little anxious.

"Mostly trapeze stuff." Raz answered.

"Do you know how to juggle?" Lester asked. Raz's expression fell slightly.

"Yes." He answered in the manner of someone who hated the piano but knew that they would soon be asked to sit down and play a piece.

"Can you juggle these biscuits?" Lester said as stuffed one in his mouth and then extended three more out towards Raz who had his eyebrow raised. Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Lester, put the biscuits down." Lester lowered them reluctantly.

"So how was camp last summer?" Raz asked as he turned to Lili and gave her a warm smile.

"Dull without you." She replied.

"Sometimes that isn't a bad thing." Sasha commented from the other end of the table. "I think I had enough excitement that summer to last a lifetime." Milla giggled and they stopped talking about it due to present company.

"Maybe I can talk my dad into letting me drop by next summer." Lili's smile faltered a little.

"Yeah." She said quietly. Both of them fell silent, and Raz examined his hands. For a while both of them had forgotten that seeing each other was a brief occurrence. Summer was a long way away…and even then…his father still had to say yes.

Angus sat at the table with his jaw cradled in his palm. His chicken had been reduced to shreds as he picked it apart absently. He happened to look up at Tessa, only to find she was staring right at him. Quickly, to keep her from guessing his thoughts, he reached up towards the gravy bowl, trying to appear natural. Unfortunately, innate clumsiness got in the way and he accidentally grabbed a handful of tablecloth along with the pitcher. He pulled it back perhaps a bit too quickly.

Tessa watched in horror as her and Lester's glasses tipped over, splashing the white cloth with grape juice. On the other side, Raz and Lili almost got a lap full of juice themselves, but Raz managed to gather his senses quick enough to keep them from falling. He did not, however, manage to stop the gravy dish that dropped on the table and splattered his food and shirt as Angus tried to let go of the cloth embarrassedly and accidentally lost his grasp on the pitcher as well. When this happened Tessa buried her face in her hands.

"Oh my god…I'm so sorry." He directed the apologies mostly at Lili and Truman, who had stood.

"It's uh…alright. I'll get someone to clean it up." Truman said as he left the room. Tessa peaked out through her fingers at Raz and then up at Angus who was turning bright red.

"I'm so sorry." Angus said again. Raz laughed a little.

"No problem." He said as he picked a few pieces of glass from the gravy bowl out of his potatoes. "I like gravy." As he gathered the glass Angus noticed the friendship bracelet on his wrist and possibly, grew even redder as his embarrassment and horror was given an additional push.

Angus left the room wretchedly. After he was gone Lester started to laugh…that was, until Tessa punched him in the stomach and his laughter turned to wheezes. She then stood and followed Angus out.

XXX

Angus got halfway back to his room when Tessa caught up with him.

"Angus wait! I want to talk to you." She sounded strange, as though she were speaking in a manner somewhere in between sympathy and severity. Angus stopped and looked at her, his face still red. She stopped in front of him…and then looked as though she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to say…but knew she needed to say something.

"Don't be upset…just because…I mean, it's her birthday and she's happy."

"What are you talking about?" Angus asked sharply.

"You know what I'm talking about." Tessa replied. "I'm talking about Lili and Raz. You can brood all you want but that wont change anything."

"It might. I don't like that guy!" He said, forgetting the need to conceal his feelings. "If he really cared about her he'd…he'd see her more often."

"Don't be stupid. He's twelve. He has as much power over where he goes as we do. If it was our choice we wouldn't be at Demure…but our parents make us go."

"I still don't like him." Angus whined. "He's too…and she's…you know what…I don't have to explain it to you." He said angrily.

"Look…I'm just trying to save you from embarrassing yourself…okay? If you want, you can go ask Lili why she likes him yourself…or you can just accept it and be a friend…it's not like you ever came forward with your feelings anyway." Angus was surprised into silence for a moment. After a moment, he regained his composer, and he had top know for sure.

"Are they really…?"

"Yeah."

"But how!? She's never even talked about him."

"Tch, she's Lili…she never talks about anything that's really important to her. Maybe their relationship won't work out…they're twelve after all…but I saw the way you were looking at him…and I'm not saying the gravy wasn't an accident…but…"

"Okay!" He said, frustrated. "Fine…I get it." He said. His frustration then turned into a look of defeat. "I'm going to bed." He headed towards his room. Deep down he had known that nothing would ever happen between him and Lili…but at the same time…he had secretly hoped that it would also never happen between her and someone else either.

XXX

After they had finished dinner and Raz and Lili said goodbye to Sasha and Milla, they walked back towards their rooms in silence. It was Raz who finally broke it.

"I have a present for you." He said. "I have to warn you though…it's REALLY ugly." Lili smiled a little. "I'm pretty sure I left it in my suitcase, I was going to mail it to you…if I ever got your address, but I guess it's your birthday present now.

_I have my birthday present_. Lili thought as Raz took her hand and led her towards the guest room.

"Consider this an added bonus."

"You know, I'm going to develop a psychic shield in my mind made especially so that you can't read it." Lili said, only half joking. Raz smiled.

"I'll find my way around it." Lili rolled her eyes, but was too content to become angry with him. When they reached the room, he headed over to his bed and began searching through his suitcase, while Lili watched him affectionately.

"Ah." Raz pulled a small hand crafted box and handed it to her. "It's inside the box…although…I'm sure the box'd make a better present." Lili took it and opened it gently. Inside was the most ugly necklace she had ever seen.

"Wow." She said as she pulled it out and looked at it. A variety of small "charms" for lack of a better word were all strung on a rusty golden chain. "This _is_ really ugly." Raz smiled. Lili took a folded up piece of paper out of the box, which had been underneath the horrible obstruction that was her birthday present and unfolded it. There were actually a few sheets, all covered with writing. She read a few lines, looking back and forth between the paper and the necklace, then, without a word she put both down, threw her arms around Raz and kissed him deeply on the lips. He returned her kiss eagerly, but pulled away much sooner then she would have liked.

"I've missed you a lot Lili." He said seriously. She felt a tingling sensation as he said it. "I know we don't get to see each other a lot…but I thought…maybe if you give me your address and your phone number…both for your house and your school…I could write you…or call you some time…and maybe when we're nearby we could visit for a day or something." Lili's eyelashes fluttered. "I mean…if that's not enough then…" Raz stopped then, suddenly looking dejected. Lili smiled, however and leaned forward to kiss him again.

When they parted she leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"It's not enough…but if that's the best we can do, I suppose it'll have to do." Raz smiled and put his arms around her.

"Happy birthday." He said.

Lili smiled and closed her eyes and pretended that the moment would last forever.

* * *

OO Wow…I finished…and it only took over a year to do so. God, I don't know how this matters any more but…I am sorry it took so long. I have good reasons and bad reasons why it has gone so slowly, but rather then coming up with excuses I'll just simply say "Sorry" once more and leave it at that.

This chapter has been difficult for me. I got through the first nine or ten pages by pure will power. At the start of this chapter I had no idea how it would end. I've had such terrible writers block since I started it, probably a month ago, that I've only managed to get a few words in whenever I've tried to sit and work on it. Fortunately, I'm off college for a month and that means I have time to write. So, I decided that before I'm pulled back into the artistically and mentally draining world of higher education I'm going to try to get through as many stories and chapters of my long neglected fics as humanly and artistically possible.

Unfortunately, this means working on more then just Psychonauts fics. Indeed I have others, stories that have been going on for more then one year and have rather, by this point, lost my interest. I'm afraid that even if they do get finished it will be with little enthusiasm…and when writing certain stories stops appealing to me…I either get blocks that I can't work around…or I wind up creating such crap that I'm surprised anyone even bothers to read it. (My TNBC stories are good examples of this)

My Psychonauts fics, I am glad to say, still remain at the top of my list of things I am eager to continue with. This is why I am hoping to have some updates on Cerebral Soldiers uploaded soon. It may take as much as a week before I can really get started on them, seeing as I start work this week, and I would really like to re read through the story to get the feel of it back, but I do NOT plan on wasting this month. I've really missed writing and reading your guy's wonderful reviews.

Ne ways…this has gone on long enough. Thank you very much for following this story…I hope it has not lost it's way too much and that you enjoyed the ending, despite the time it took to get here. I love you all and am very grateful for your patience. Happy Holidays!!!


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